Liverpool takeover offers will “get put in the garbage” says chairman Tom Werner
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has issued an unequivocal message to those interested in buying the Premier League club – it's not for sale.
The Merseyside giants were the subject of reports linking them with a £700m takeover offer from a Chinese firm.
A letter circulated online appeared to show Chinese investment group SinoFortone approaching Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) with a bid for the club and plans to build a new stadium in the Liverpool docks area.
The reports came amidst a flurry of foreign investment into English football which has seen West Bromwich Albion, Wolves, Aston Villa, Swansea, Everton, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace all sell partial or controlling stakes.
But Werner, a founding partner of FSG and current Liverpool chairman, says he often receives offers for the club he doesn't take seriously and files in the rubbish bin.
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"We've said it before and I'd like to say it again: this club is not for sale," Werner told the Liverpool Echo.
"I'd say that from time to time somebody says they have made an offer to us but they are really saying that just for publicity. People throw offers to us which we don't think are real. We haven't had a discussion or a negotiation with anyone because this club is not for sale.
"If someone wants to write us a letter saying they want to buy the club then it will get put in the garbage."
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Werner cited a new six-year contract handed to manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season as an indication of FSG's long-term ambitions at Liverpool.
"I don't think that we could have made a long-term arrangement with Jurgen [Klopp] without an understanding on both sides about our future together," he said.
"We've said in the past, under the right conditions and absolutely with the right partner, we could look at some small investment stake in the club but only in the framework of doing what would be in the club's long-term best interests."