UFC star Conor McGregor eyeing Liverpool takeover

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor said he wanted to buy Liverpool, claiming he had asked for the club’s price.

The mixed martial artist previously said that acquiring a Premier League team was something he had been interested in doing in the “future.” McGregor expressed the same interest in Chelsea earlier this year when it was up for sale, as did he for Manchester United and Celtic.

“I requested my information on this, yes,” McGregor said. “Soon as I heard. What a turn of events! What a club!”

Famous for being an MMA fighter, McGregor said he grew up loving football. Ahead of the 2018 Champions League finals, McGregor claimed that his entire family had always been Liverpool fans.

At the moment, McGregor is recovering from a broken leg, which he sustained in a fight against Dustin Poirier in 2021. The fighter is currently not in the testing pool of the United States Anti-Doping Agency and is planning to return to the cage within the first quarter of 2023. McGregor told reporters that he needed several months to prepare for his long-awaited comeback.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the current owner of Liverpool, hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to foresee a possible sale after running it for 12 years. FSG, also the owner of the Boston Red Sox, acquired Liverpool in 2010 when the club almost went bankrupt. It managed to save the team’s financial situation and improve its facilities. According to a Forbes estimation, Liverpool is valued at $4.45 billion.

Reports suggested that FSG became interested in selling Liverpool following Chelsea’s $5.2 billion sale. However, analysts said that FSG had started selling its “strategic stakes” in Liverpool in the past five years, allowing more growth opportunities.

Regarding Liverpool’s sale, FSG assured that it would consider new shareholders “if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club.”