Liverpool Have Reason to Be Wary of New Ownership

A Liverpool takeover is finally in the pipeline but celebrations at Anfield should remain muted at least until the big money signings start to actually roll in.

Liverpool fans have been here before. The much maligned current owners, George Hicks and Tom Gillett, were supposed to usher in a new financial era at the club when they took over in February 2007.

Former Liverpool owner David Moores outlined the reasons for the sale in a letter to The Times earlier this year:

"Gillett and Hicks produced a very substantial offer document containing all the key assurances regarding debt, the stadium, investment in the squad and respect for Liverpool F.C’s unique culture, traditions and legacy. It was impressive stuff. Over 1700 shareholders voted and the result was 100 percent in favour of accepting Gillett & Hicks’s offer."

In his letter, Moores proclaims his deep regret at sanctioning the sale of Liverpool to the American duo. He also admits that the club were overly hasty to push this particular deal through and describes this as, "an element of the process I accept we could have handled better."

In the same letter Moores implored Hicks and Gillett to sell the club and it has now been on the market for over three months. With just four weeks to go until the closure of the transfer window, a potential buyer has finally emerged.

According to the BBC and several other reputable sources, Kenny Huang, head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, is currently in negotiations to purchase Liverpool.

Just like his American predecessors, Huang is supposedly promising substantial transfer funds and a new stadium. The similarities do not end there. The Hong Kong based businessman has set a strict deadline on the deal.

According to the BBC, "He (Heung) wants the deal to be completed within two weeks to allow Hodgson time to strengthen the squad before the transfer deadline at the end of August. Any later and the deal is off."

Given that Moores maintains the only mistake that was made during the previous change of ownership was the haste with which the deal was pushed through, alarm bells should be ringing on Merseyside.

Football club ownership should be for life, or at least for a little longer than the three and a half year tenure of Gillett and Hicks. Liverpool might not currently be in a position where they are likely to challenge for Premiership honours but Champions League qualification remains a realistic ambition for the current group of players. Under these circumstances surely it would be more prudent for both parties to be a little more patient.

In his letter, Moores lamented the fact that more stringent checks were not made the last time Liverpool was sold. Given the tight time frame within which the current deal will have to be made, it seems that there is a very real risk that similar mistakes will be made again.

As Liverpool fans should be all too aware foreign ownership can be a mixed blessing. Roman Abramovich might be willing to lose seemingly unlimited amounts of money improving Chelsea but Sulaiman Al-Fahim sold ninety percent of his stake in Portsmouth less than two months after acquiring the club.

There is no reason to doubt Huang's desire to finance a new Liverpool stadium and a new Liverpool team but there was no reason to suspect that Hicks and Gillett would not make good on these particular promises either.

An exorbitantly rich investor is becoming increasingly essential to success in today's Premiership and the prospect of new ownership will be an extremely welcome one at Anfield.

It is essential that the process of due diligence is thorough and, if necessary, time consuming. If Liverpool do have to endure one more season outside of the Premiership's elite as a result of this process, it is a small price to pay to ensure the long term stability of the club.