Thought this sounded very familiar.
In our latest mailbag, The Athletic answers your questions regarding Liverpool’s summer transfer plans and the level of investment from FSG
theathletic.com
How is it that we have the third biggest turnover yet we don’t seem to be able to compete with Europe’s best for players? Simon C
This is an emotive subject. In terms of net-owner spending, I think you’re referring to this
recent article in The Athletic.
It’s no secret that FSG don’t put money into Liverpool — but neither do they take cash out of the club. The fact Liverpool’s net-owner funding over the past five years stands at negative £37million is down to the money that’s been repaid to the owners for the low-interest loan they took out to finance the new £110million Main Stand in 2016.
The most recent accounts showed that the balance now stands at £71.4million.
My frustration with the debate over the ownership is that there seems to be so little middle ground, especially on social media. The idea that you’re either “FSG Out” or an “FSG apologist” is ridiculous. It is possible to believe the owners have done a lot of good things and made some mistakes along the way while questioning whether their self-sustaining business model for Liverpool can really bring more glory given the financial muscle of rivals.
There’s no mystery surrounding where the money goes. Liverpool played 63 games in 2021-22, generated club-record revenues of £594million, but still only made a pre-tax profit of £7.5m. The wage bill rocketed to £366million — an increase of nearly 17 per cent on the previous 12 months.
It’s not that Liverpool “don’t spend”, it’s just that rivals have deeper pockets or are willing to take on much greater levels of debt.
Look at 2021-22: the signing of Konate was effectively covered by summer sales, but then they spent £50million on Luis Diaz in the January window. Last season, if you include potential add-ons for incomings and outgoings and the January signing of Cody Gakpo, the net spend was around £75million.
I understand the argument that FSG should put in their own cash given the fact the value of their asset has rocketed since that £300million takeover in 2010, but they’ve consistently said throughout their tenure that Liverpool has to live within its means.
The time to judge whether FSG have backed Klopp sufficiently this summer is in August, not now.