Billionaire FSG shareholder gives rare Liverpool comments, reveals aim for £533m deal

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That means that they are a Liverpool shareholder once removed.And with their 11 per cent stake in FSG roughly matching those held by Tom Werner (chairman) and Mike Gordon (director), Cardinale is one of the most powerful men with the keys to Fenway’s Boston nerve centre. Only John Henry – Liverpool and FSG’s principal owner – owns significantly more shares.Liverpool ownership diagram Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV MediaBut to what extent, if at all, does the 58-year-old actually wield that influence at Anfield?Well, there is some evidence in how UEFA has handled his investment in another giant of European football, one who are umbilically attached to Liverpool’s history: AC Milan.RedBird bought the seven-time European champions in August 2022 for around £1bn.

Cardinale’s all-American, hyper-capitalist approach hasn’t sat well with the traditional Milanese fanbase, but that’s a story for another day.Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty ImagesIn terms of his role at Liverpool, UEFA clearly believe that it doesn’t meet their threshold of ‘decisive influence’. Rather than involving himself in day-to-day operations, Cardinale seems content to sit back, watch the club’s value appreciate and await an enormous payday when FSG do eventually sell them.“This is the only time in my career that I have taken a junior role,” Cardinale told The Varsity podcast in late October when asked about his 11 per cent investment in FSG, whose £12bn-valued sports and property empire also includes Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL.“And it was because of the respect I have for John Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon and the respect I have for Sam Kennedy and his team.

I’ve learned a lot in my entry to European football watching what Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes have done there under Mike Gordon.”To suggest, however, that Cardinale has no power at Liverpool seems naïve in the extreme, even if he doesn’t intend to use it. And even though his comments relate more to US sports franchises, do Liverpool’s underlying financials justify a £4bn-plus valuation?FSG are yet to make any money at Anfield.