Jurgen Klopp says the £538million investment from RedBird Capital Partners is “good news” and will give Liverpool “consistency”.
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group sold a 10 per cent stake in its business to the private equity firm, and the financial injection is expected to help secure stability amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s good news. What we were all talking about in the past year, all the time clubs suffer as well. That’s how it is without supporters in the stadium,” said Klopp in his Friday press conference.
“This gives us a bit more security. It will go on like it did before.”
Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital has already pledged to put a “winning team on the field” for the Liverpool fans, who he says are the true owners of the football club.
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Cardinale said on the ‘Are You Not Entertained Podcast’: “Today’s world, it’s all about the money. But sometimes you have got to stop yourself and say that ‘Hey, it can’t just be about the money.’
“When you are on your death bed looking back at life it would be a shame if it was just about the money.
“One thing I’ve noticed as I spend more time in Europe and bring our type of investment to the European sports landscape is that divergence.
“Whether in America or Europe you have to have respect for the fan. You have to have respect for the community and civic obligation that team owners have to the community in which they play.
“That connectivity to the community is so apparent in Europe.
“The fans really own the team, you as an owner or a prospective owner you better get around the fact that you are just a caretaker at this moment in time, you’ve gotten the proverbial baton and you have an obligation to do right by those fans.
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“You have an obligation to put a winning team on the field, you have an obligation to create value to the fans and enhance the way that they experience their team.
“That exists in America. In America, you have multi-generations of fans where it is a ritual, and baseball is a classic example.
“On a Sunday afternoon in the summer a grandfather and his son, and his son’s son go to a game and it is a great four-hour experience and it is a ritual. It is such a core to family values in America.
“That hasn’t gone away but what has challenged it is money and technology.
“Sports in America has become big business and as a result of that there is a greater need for better infrastructure and many of the seats that fans have had for generations get priced out of their ability to pay for them. That makes it tough.
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“There is a lot of debate where there has to be a balance. You have to grow, you have to keep fuelling the evolution and development to continue to provide the value proposition to the fan, particularly in a world where the competition for eyeballs has never been greater.
“Sport comes up against video games, it comes up against eSports, it comes up against sitting at home and watching video on demand. There has to be a value proposition and that involves bringing money into the game.
“That can’t come at the expense of the grandfather, the son and the grandson being priced out of a generational experience.”
