With the recent reports that Saudi Media Group have tabled a £2.7bn bid to replace Roman Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea, it has led to claims that the move will result in the valuation of Manchester United and Liverpool ‘inflating’.
Abramovich is one of many Russian oligarchs to have been sanctioned by the UK government in recent days due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the 55-year-old has been ‘disqualified’ by the Premier League.
The bid from the middle eastern outfit comes after Newcastle United were purchased by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund last year, despite concerns over the nation’s human rights record, but the Magpies have been keen to stress that their owners have no link to the Saudi consortium that has reportedly tabled a bid for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Kevin Palmer, a journalist for the Sunday World, has claimed that United and Liverpool ‘are the two biggest brands in English football by a distance’, in an attempt to highlight the fact that if Chelsea are worth $3.5bn, then us and United are surely worth more.
Towards the end of last year, Forbes claimed that the Anfield outfit were worth $4.1bn.
We certainly have a more colourful history than Chelsea, as well as a bigger stadium, but we’re no financial experts.
One thing we do know is that FSG have done a rather impressive job since they purchased the club back in 2010.
They’ve of course made errors in the past, which they have later corrected or performed u-turns, but they’ve revamped Anfield and built the AXA Training Centre to ensure the quality of our facilities match the talent of the squad.
We can’t see John Henry and co. cashing in anytime soon, but when the time does come for them to move on, they will be expecting a serious amount of money.
You can see Palmer’s take on the reported Saudi bid for Chelsea below via his Twitter page.
https://twitter.com/RealKevinPalmer/status/1503389377040375809?s=20&t=f-hLn4gFci-Uamg2MOAkWA
#Ep39 of The Red Nets Podcast: Should we be worried about Mo Salah? Previewing Brighton… and more!