‘If and when it happens…’ – Richard Hughes hints at massive behind-the-scenes Liverpool plans | OneFootball

Richard Hughes has appeared to hint at a potential major behind-the-scenes development involving Liverpool FC.

In March 2024, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) revealed their intentions to enter into a multi-club ownership (MCO) model, believing it to be a ‘necessary’ strategy in order to ‘remain competitive’ at the summit of English and European football (The Athletic).

The Reds’ hierarchy had reportedly shown interest in acquisitions of Bordeaux and Malaga and are also understood to have been in talks with Getafe president Angel Torres about a potential takeover of the LaLiga outfit.

Hughes appears to drop strong hint over FSG entering MCO model

Speaking at the IMG x RedBird Summit on Thursday, Liverpool sporting director Hughes was asked about the benefits of MCO in terms of player development, and he referred to his experiences of such a model in his time at Bournemouth.

He explained (via The Athletic): “Attracting talent at a younger age and at a cheaper stage in their development, and then being able to develop them in your own environment is clearly something that’s desirable. I had a bit of experience with it at Bournemouth when Bill Foley acquired Lorient in France, and then had stakes in Hibernian in Scotland.”

(Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Citing the Cherries’ 2023 signing of Dango Ouattara (who joined Brentford for £42.5m last month) from Lorient, Hughes said: “That was an example of how it can be to the benefit, definitely to the club at the top of the pyramid, but also further down that they benefit from acquiring talent that they wouldn’t necessarily be able to do.

“That’s something that, if it does take off with ourselves, then it would mean that you could focus your global recruitment on taking maybe a few more chances in the market as clubs like Brighton, for example, have done to to really good effect.

“It’s something that does have a lot of benefits, but I believe it’s got its challenges as well, so you need enough good staff to be able to run it properly, which in our case isn’t so much of a problem. If and when it happens, we’ll be ready to go from a staffing perspective.”

MCO is a very touchy subject in modern football

Hughes’ concluding comment about ‘if and when it happens’ appears to offer a significant hint that FSG establishing an MCO model isn’t so much an idea as an inevitability.

The Liverpool sporting director has outlined how the controversial strategy can open up an efficient recruitment pathway for clubs and mentioned how the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton have used it to great effect.

(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

However, the murky side of MCO was catapulted into the limelight over the summer after Crystal Palace’s contentious banishment from the Europa League due to the presence of Lyon in the tournament and the involvement of John Textor in both clubs.

In France, Strasbourg supporters have been particularly vocal about their displeasure at being part of the BlueCo consortium led by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly, which has resulted in several not-so-subtle transfers and loans of players between the two teams (BBC Sport).

Those two examples highlight how clubs can be mistreated and fan bases infuriated due to their involvement in MCO models, and it’s something we’d much rather see Liverpool steering clear of.

Alas, Hughes’ comments hint that FSG are quite likely to act upon their intentions to add more football clubs to their portfolio. If that is to happen, we can only hope it is managed in a way which doesn’t adversely affect other teams and strip them of their unique identity and heritage.