Liverpool’s owners FSG are considering an approach for Spanish side Malaga and could attempt to purchase the second-tier club – but there are more teams on FSG’s radar.
The move could see FSG expand its portfolio of sports clubs which includes the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, although Liverpool is the only soccer club it currently owns. FSG owns a majority stake in the Reds having purchased the club in 2010.
Should FSG purchase a controlling stake in Malaga, it would join the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United among the number of Premier League clubs involved in multi-team ownership groups.
Malaga competed in the Champions League as recently as 2013, but were relegated to the Segunda Division just five years later. It is currently 49 per cent owned by Blue Bay, a hotel and real estate group, with Qatari businessman, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani owning the other 51 per cent.
“FSG routinely engages in conversations and evaluates opportunities across global sports, a common process to assess ventures that align with the organization’s strategic priorities,” a spokesperson for the group told Liverpool.com.
Liverpool’s former sporting director Michael Edwards took up a role as FSG’s CEO of football last year, a decision that was partly motivated by the desire to increase its ownership of clubs across the sport, with French side Bordeaux explored as a possible option last summer.
“I believe that to remain competitive, investment and expansion of the current football portfolio is necessary,” Edwards said last March.
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Now attention has turned to Spain, and it’s not just Malaga being eyed up. As per The Athletic, FSG is also considering Levante, Elche, Espanyol, Getafe and Valladolid as possible sides to invest in, while returning to the French market has not been ruled out.
Explaining part of the reasoning behind FSG’s thinking in pursuing a deal to purchase Malaga, The Athletic stated : “Since post-Brexit regulations came into force in 2021, English clubs are no longer able to sign players under the age of 18 from overseas. Owning a club in a country which is still a member of the European Union can help to circumvent those rules, as players can be based there until they reach adulthood.
“For older players initially ineligible to get a work permit to play in the UK, placing them at another club can also be beneficial in terms of building up their qualification criteria.”
The report also states that Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners are interested in adding Malaga to their portfolio of clubs and will offer competition to FSG.
