Having stated his intentions to add to FSG’s portfolio upon returning to Liverpool this month, Michael Edwards reportedly has his eyes set on one European club.
According to Football Insider, the Reds’ owners are exploring a deal to take over Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse, who we faced in the Europa League group stage during the autumn.
The two clubs already share some ties – Les Violets’ majority owners RedBird Capital hold an 11% stage in FSG, while their current president Damien Comolli was previously director of football strategy at Anfield, with Luis Suarez among the signings that he oversaw.
Edwards’ plans to expand FSG’s football portfolio beyond Liverpool might have been met with disapproval from many Reds fans with reservations about multi-club ownership (MCO).
Other examples such as the City Football Group and the Red Bull stable have been met with criticism from the supporters of clubs who feel as if their identity is being stripped in order to serve one flagship team, namely Manchester City in the case of the former.
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We hope that, if FSG are wholly determined to go down the MCO path, they do so in the right manner and establish strong ties with other outfits from across Europe and beyond without necessarily turning them into mere ‘feeder’ sides for Liverpool.
Unfortunately, this controversial ownership model has become increasingly abundant in modern football. We’ve no issue with formalised partnerships being arranged, so long as a club with decades of tradition isn’t simply turned into an LFC Lite at the behest of the Boston-based businessmen.