Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner Says 'No Truth' in £1.5B Takeover Bid Rumours

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has said there is "no truth" to reports that say Fenway Sports Group (FSG) turned down a £1.5 billion offer to buy the club following a year of negotiations. 

Abu Dhabi newspaper The National reported a Dubai-based consortium led by financier Amanda Staveley made the offer, but Werner told the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce: "We have better things to do than batting down rumours about negotiations with Ms. Staveley. However, there's no truth to them."

According to the Middle East reports, the bid for the club is worth an initial £1.2 billion—rising to £1.5 billion if the Reds do well in the UEFA Champions League—and was only rejected "at the eleventh hour."

This news came not long after Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie suggested Staveley was closing in on a deal to buy Premier League peers Newcastle United:

Some sections of the Anfield support may welcome a change in ownership if it sees their expenditure in the transfer market boosted.

The Merseysiders failed to sign a new centre-back over the summer and look to be paying the price, having struggled to come up with alternatives to Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, who stayed on the south coast.

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer recently appeared on beIN Sports (h/t Pearce for the Mirror) and voiced his opinion the current owners were willing to splash out more:

"When we didn't get Van Dijk or a new 'keeper I always felt it would be a feast or famine season in terms of results—we'd either win 4-0 or get beaten 4-1. I felt it would be like that because of the recruitment in the summer.

“There's no lack of ambition from the owners. They have given the manager virtually an open cheque book. He had over £150 million to spend.

“If Van Dijk had come for £70 million and [Naby] Keita for £60 million, having bought [Mo] Salah, you're looking at over £160 million there they were willing to outlay."

The report added Liverpool's decision to back out of the takeover bid was due to the fact they thought the offer was undervalued, as "global TV rights [are] expected to rapidly increase over the next two cycles."

Seven years have passed since FSG purchased the club for £300 million, and despite the opportunity to make a substantial profit on their initial outlay, the American owners are seemingly content with their long-term vision.