Breaking down the possibility of Robert Kraft owning the team
Liverpool could have been owned by an entirely different American moneyman had things gone differently with FSG. Here we break down that story.
Liverpool.com broke the news about the takeover that nearly happened twice but failed to go through and eventually paved the way for FSG to complete the buyout and herald the new wave of success for the club.
On the base of it, it appears as if Robert Kraft would have been a good fit for the Reds. He had experience taking a ‘sleeping giant’ from the basement to the top with the New England Patriots.
When he bought the franchise, the American sorted out the stadium and grew the value of the side from $172 million to $4.1 billion.
So far, so good. Liverpool and Kraft look to have been a good fit so far – surely if he had been able to do the same over the pond that would have translated well in the Premier League and with this side?
Apart from the conclusion Liverpool.com made was that Robert Kraft wouldn’t have been a good fit for the club. Despite the clear similarities between the two projects, the lack of financial control in the Premier League would have made things too difficult for Kraft.
The lack of a salary cap, for example, was highlighted as something that could make him come unstuck.
Another thing that wouldn’t have translated well is the way the Pats owner takes gut decisions and rules via blood-and-thunder. FSG are far more calculated and analytical, and that’s how you have to be in the Premier League.
They need someone who can build a global brand – take something that happened in Anfield and make money off it in countries like India – and that’s another thing FSG are better at than Kraft would have been.
Basically, there is a lot that seems attractive with this on the surface. But the article dug a little deeper and concluded that FSG are the men for Liverpool, and while Kraft has the passion and the personality he doesn’t have the calculating instinct.