Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are more likely to sell a minority stake in the club than cash out completely, a respected journalist has claimed.
On Monday, The Athletic reported that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) had put the club up for sale and that a full presentation had been produced for potential buyers.
In response, FSG released a statement claiming it "remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch".
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The statement read: "There have been a number of recent changes of ownership and rumours of changes in ownership at EPL clubs and inevitably we are asked regularly about Fenway Sports Group's ownership in Liverpool.
"FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club.
"FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch."
Who could buy Liverpool?
The announcement has both excited and worried Liverpool supporters, with the next step currently unclear.
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A number of parties have been linked with a potential takeover of the club, including Dubai International Capital (DIC), RedBird - an investment vehicle that already owns a 10 percent stake in Liverpool, and Atalanta co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and his investment firm Bain Capital.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he is not concerned about the prospect of new ownership at Liverpool and is excited about more funds being potentially made available if a takeover happens.
"My gut feeling"
However, Goal journalist Neil Jones expects FSG to only sell a minority stake in the club.
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"My gut feeling is I think they'll sell a percentage of the club," Jones told TheRedMenTV.
"That's just a gut feeling, but if someone comes and says, 'We'll give you five billion for that,' I think they'll sell. Jurgen must have had at least an in-depth conversation with [Liverpool director] Mike Gordon.
"To me, his quote sounded a little bit like he's had at least a steer in the direction of – it's more likely to be investment.
"In that sense, it's been quite stable, the club, and this opens the door to the idea that it could get even better. It's easy to say 'it could be terrible'.
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"It could be brilliant. It could be the greatest thing that's ever happened to the club, but there is that other side – the flip side – of what you don’t know is quite scary.
"The worry you’d have in that situation is what happened at Arsenal for a little while, where you did have a guy who came in and then he incrementally bought everyone out.
"You had some hostile moments in that period with [Alisher] Usmanov and [Stan] Kroenke.
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"There was a lot of stasis in Arsenal for a time when people disagreed fundamentally. If you sell a 25 per cent share of Liverpool then it does raise the prospect of that and you get two, three conflicting voices."
Topics: Liverpool, Football, Premier League
Rory O'Callaghan