Liverpool chief Billy Hogan updates on FSG multi-club model plans after Bordeaux collapse
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group will continue their plans to add another football club to their portfolio despite the collapse of talks with Bordeaux, Reds CEO Billy Hogan has said.
FSG pulled out of negotiations to purchase Bordeaux earlier this month (BBC Sport, 16 July) as they sought to add another team to their portfolio.
But Hogan said that plans for a multi-club model are still underway despite the setback.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a focus on any one country. It’s a case-by-case basis,” Hogan said to The Athletic (29 July).
“If you back it out from specifically another football club, each of the teams that sit within the FSG enterprise operate on their own. Liverpool has its own finances and decision-making processes. It’s the same for the Red Sox. It’s the same for the (Pittsburgh) Penguins.
“Of course there are opportunities for us to share best practices and learnings in terms of how the organisations work. In the event of there being another club, there would certainly be benefits from being part of the overall FSG infrastructure, both on the business and the data analytics, operational side.”
Liverpool fans are anxious as FSG ignore clear warning signs
Bordeaux released a statement on their X account (25 July), confirming the club had filed for bankruptcy and relinquished their professional status following their forced relegation to the third-tier by French football watchdogs Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion.
FSG pulled out of talks to purchase a majority stake in the club due to the economic state of French football and owner Gerard Lopez failed to find an alternative investor before the DNCG deadline.
Boavista in Portugal, also owned by Lopez, are also struggling financially and their players went on strike in December after playing for three months unpaid (Nogomania, 22 December 2023).
Liverpool fans have strongly voiced their opinions on their owners acquiring another club and, despite FSG's proven track record of financial stability, they want to be the only football club under FSG.
CEO of football Michael Edwards returned to the club on the promise that a multi-club model would be implemented at FSG and members within the Liverpool hierarchy including Hogan and FSG president Mike Gordon have publically spoken on the benefits of the model for the Reds. (The Athletic, 9 July)
Troyes, owned by Manchester City owners City Football Group have suffered back-to-back relegations under CFG and protested against their owners in a match against Valenciennes in May.
The signs are there for FSG that the multi-club model is not in their best interests and, given their already precarious relationship with Liverpool fans, should not risk tarnishing what is already a love-hate relationship.
In other Liverpool news, the Reds respond to £11.8m Marseille bid for Wataru Endo.
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