Liverpool's new owner sees a lot of work ahead
John Henry, one of Liverpool's two new owners, has said there is a lot of work to be done at the Premier League club, adding that the price his company, New England Sports Ventures (NESV), paid for the acquisition was no bargain.
Henry, who founded of NESV with Tom Werner in 2002, completed the takeover of the club on Friday, October 15, in a deal worth £300 million.
Despite claims that the company paid a cheap price for the club, the American has insisted that there is plenty of work to be done before things will turn around for Liverpool, both on the pitch and financially.
"I know some people are saying this was a cheap price for the club, but there is no way we look at it like that...if you are really diligent, you are trying to find everything that's wrong-and we found plenty."
Liverpool is 19th in the Premier League after Saturday's defeat to Merseyside rivals Everton and Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the club's former owners, left a financial legacy that, according to Henry, is not to be envied.
"There is a huge amount of work to do here and it will take a long time. There were big financial issues, but in the end we decided we really wanted to compete at this level."
Shortly after forming in 2002, NESV acquired an American baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, where pressure to deliver the team's first World Series title since 1919 was immense. In 2004, the team achieved the stated goal, adding another title in 2007.
The challenge facing Henry and Werner at Liverpool is of a similar magnitude, as the club has been without a league title since 1990.
"We have to be smart, bold and aggressive, because it's a great challenge. There were lots of reasons why we could have decided not to go through with this. There were many times we thought it was too big a challenge, but this club is worth it - and we are
excited by that challenge."
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