View: Liverpool owners FSG made smart decision on Bordeaux despite their horrible situation
Bordeaux have filed for bankruptcy and given up their professional status as a football club following the end of talks for Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group to purchase a majority share in the club.
Writing on their X account (25 July), Bordeaux confirmed the decision to file for bankruptcy following their relegation to Championnat National (third tier) enforced by French watchdog Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion.
FSG had been in talks with owner Gerard Lopez over a majority purchase of the club but those talks concluded earlier this month due to the economic climate of French football (BBC Sport, 16 July).
FSG deemed £86m Bordeaux investment too much of a financial burden
It is a sad day when any football club enters administration, let alone one of the most decorated clubs in French football.
Lopez should never be allowed to associate with a football club again, his financial incompetence has cost Bordeaux fans their club, and his other side Boavista, is following the same path.
Liverpool fans have always been against the multi-club model and Lopez’s mismanagement of what once was two top-flight sides is the prime example of their worries.
For Liverpool and FSG it was a smart move to pull out of negotiations for Bordeaux, the financial implications piled up as the negotiations dragged on.
The main stopping point was the cost of maintaining the Matmut Atlantique stadium, Bordeaux attracted around 20,000 fans to the stadium which holds a 42,000 capacity.
Bordeaux city council owns the stadium in a private/public partnership and FSG would have needed to part with £42m to secure the stadium outright.
This outlay, combined with the initial investment of £25-33m needed to appease the DNCG and the £84m FSG planned to invest across six years, brought the total way over the cost John Henry was willing to pay.
CEO of football Michael Edwards still plans to commence with the multi-club model despite Liverpool fans’ protests but this should act as a warning sign for the club’s plans.
Liverpool remains FSG’s number one football priority for now but that is set to change, given the already precarious relationship between the owners and the supporters, FSG would be wise not to rock the boat.
In other Liverpool news, Three things learned from Liverpool v Real Betis.
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