Surprise new favourite emerges to buy Liverpool - much richer than Man City owners

A new group has emerged as the favourite to buy Liverpool, and they are six times richer than Manchester City’s owners.

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".

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."

So far the names sounded out as potential future owners are RedBird, an investment vehicle that already owns a 10 percent stake in Liverpool or an oil-rich Middle Eastern backer. However, a new individual has been touted as a prospective buyer.

A new favourite

The Daily Star has claimed that Stephen Pagliuca and his investment firm Bain Capital are the new frontrunners to purchase the Reds.

Together they have a reported net worth of a staggering £119billion. For context Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour is worth around £17billion.

Naturally, Newcastle’s PIF owners blow them all out of the water, with a reported net worth of £320 billion.

However, Pagliuca would give Liverpool serious wealth while the size of the club would mean they would have more wriggle room in terms of FFP regulations than their Toon rivals.

FSG are most open to selling their controlling interest to Pagliuca according to the Star, given current owner John W Henry knows the private equity investor well.

Pagliuca is the co-chairman of Bain while he also is the co-owner of NBA side the Boston Celtics and has a 55% stake in Serie A side, Atalanta.

Topics: Football, Manchester City, Liverpool, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.