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Via Echo
Fenway Sports Group are once again being criticised by certain sections of the club’s fanbase for their approach in the transfer market.
The Reds remain the only side in the Premier League yet to sign a player this summer.
In truth, Liverpool’s recruitment has been limited in recent years as the club made minor additions to improve their playing squad.
But with such a stance in contrast to their big-spending rivals, there is a frustration in a fanbase that has often seen their side fall narrowly short
That frustration has grown this summer after being rejected by Martin Zubimendi, and seeing a number of targets move elsewhere in recent years
But how have Liverpool’s own recruitment team felt about the level of investment on offer to them?
Dr. Ian Graham, the Reds’ former Director of Research, has no complaints.
Ian Graham
“Fenway have always invested in the club, but they want to spend their money wisely, which is something that I don't disagree with,”
“There’s a very unfair caricature of FSG. They're always very happy to invest in the team, but the team's got to be self-sufficient to a certain degree.
“I think they've shown with their capital infrastructure projects, like two stadium expansions, new training ground, they're very happy to invest in the team if they can see the money's being wisely spent.”
“I can't speak for Fenway but I can give my view. And I think I think in a similar way to Fenway.
“There are two ways you spend your money as a football club - In the transfer market and on player wages. And the transfer market is a very inefficient way to spend money.”
“In the book, I've got a chapter on the transfer market and how terribly inefficient it is. I think even before I joined Liverpool, Fenway had probably come to the same conclusion that it's a bad way of spending money.
“Now, the other way you spend money is through player wages. And that's where the bulk of the money goes.
“You don't read too much about it but 65% on average in the Premier League on wages, 25% on transfers.”
“And some of that transfer money is made back through sales as well. And what Fenway did demonstrate is that they're very happy to spend on wages.”
“So as Liverpool progressed from Champions League contenders in 2016/17 to champions in 2019/20 and regular later stages of the Champions League participants, they demonstrated that they were willing to fund that in terms of wages.“
“So our star players earned star player money because that's what it takes to keep them at Liverpool.
“And from a statistical and a financial point of view, that is a way of spending money that is more correlated with success than transfer fees.
“A pound is a pound, it doesn't matter how it gets spent.
“You should just look at the total amount of money that gets spent. If you add wages onto transfer fees, Fenway spends more than most fans think they spend.”
“We still spend less than the Manchester clubs. competing against Manchester City was an incredibly difficult task. And everything needed to go right”
“In order to help do that, we had to be perfect in everything we did. We couldn't make mistakes.
“And how data helps with that is it gives you more intelligence, more insight, a wider view of the transfer market, hopefully a more rational view of the transfer market to, first of all, stop making mistakes.
“Stop wasting money on players that aren't right for your team or players that might arrive for a large transfer fee and leave for nothing a couple of years later.
“So using data was an edge. But we had a super scouting department.
“We obviously had a super manager. We had super owners who invested in the stadium, improving that as well.
“So yeah, a very, very hard job to win the Premier League when Pep Guardiola's around.
“Fenway are unfairly maligned but I was happy to stick with the financial program for 11 years, which hopefully said something.”
