Liverpool are up for sale, and it may not be long before some of the richest countries and asset management groups in the world are looking at purchasing the Reds.
One sovereign wealth fund that could well get involved with the Anfield outfit is Bahrain.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Slater, Bahrain have been mooted as potential buyers of the Merseyside club.
“Sovereign wealth funds. Bahrain has been mooted. Perhaps another one in the UAE, Dubai had a look at Liverpool a few years ago,” Slater said on Off The Ball.
This link makes a lot of sense due to the sheer wealth of the nation, but when you dig a little deeper, this starts to look incredibly logical due to one man.
Shaikh Ahmed Al Khalifa. A member of the Bahraini Royal Family is a die-hard Liverpool fan.
Often when you hear stories of these super-wealthy families being ‘fans’ it’s usually very disingenuous, but this potential investor is the real deal.
Just take a look at his Twitter and Instagram. Almost every other post is about Liverpool.
As rich as Al Khalifa and his family are, he’s a fan, just like everyone else. His bio on his social media is even ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’
In the past year, he’s met the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita, and he’s well-qualified to be Liverpool’s new chairman.
He’s already on the board of Al-Riffa SC over in Bahrain, and he has a Business Administration degree from DePaul University – so he should know how to manage this sort of entity.
An incredibly wealthy, smart, passionate Liverpool-supporting member of the Bahraini royal family. This makes too much sense for it to not be a possibility for the Reds going forward.
Don’t be surprised one bit if you see stories emerging in the coming days about Al Khalifa and the Bahraini state holding a serious interest in Liverpool, because if you connect the dots, this all makes so much sense.
The Bahraini sovereign wealth fund is valued at $18bn, so the money is definitely there for this sort of takeover.
We could be looking at Liverpool’s next owner here, and the good news is that he’s a massive fan of the club who respects the history and heritage of the six-time European champions.
Of course, there are plenty of obstacles to clear and there is likely to be some backlash to the idea of any oil state buying Liverpool, considering their proud history and roots, but having a true fan like Al Khalifa on board may soften that blow somewhat as this purchase potentially wouldn’t be fully fuelled by any ulterior sportswashing motives.
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