Liverpool owner FSG in talks to buy Bordeaux

Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is in talks over buying French club Bordeaux.

FSG is in “the early stages of dialogue and engagement”, the group confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. Bordeaux also confirmed talks in a statement of their own.

There will be a thorough due diligence process to assess the feasibility of the deal and ensure both parties are a good fit for each other.

There is recognition that Bordeaux represent a good option for FSG but it is acknowledged that there are lots of issues that could prevent any deal from coming to fruition.

Any team purchased by FSG would be a standalone entity, having no direct connection to Liverpool, with a desire within the ownership for any club they buy to maintain its independence and identity.

While confirming the talks with FSG, Bordeaux announced that it is appealing a decision from the Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG, the body responsible for overseeing the finances of French football clubs) to demote it from the French second tier to the third.

Bordeaux say they are appealing the decision in order to provide the necessary guarantees for financing for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign. The club add that the plan to sell a majority stake to FSG was presented to the DNCG on Tuesday morning with negotiations ongoing.

Bordeaux were placed into administration in 2021 when their American owner King Street stated it would no longer support the club financially, and they were bought by Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman Lopez in June of that year.

It has been apparent that FSG wanted to expand into a multi-club model since Michael Edwards’ appointment to a senior role within the group in March, which includes the former Liverpool executive taking oversight of the club’s football operations.

Edwards then appointed Benfica’s Pedro Marques as director of football development, with the 41-year-old seen as an ideal fit for FSG’s multi-club ambitions. Marques reports into Julian Ward, who was appointed as FSG’s technical director in May and whose remit is to preside over the management of the football operations of any club added to the group’s stable.

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Bordeaux are one of the biggest clubs in France, winning the title six times and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 2009-10, but have endured financial difficulties in recent seasons.

The club were relegated to Ligue 2 after finishing at the foot of the table in 2021-22 and have yet to return to the French top-flight, having previously spent just one season outside of the division between 1949 and 2022. Under former Liverpool winger Albert Riera, Bordeaux finished 12th in Ligue 2 in the 2023-24 season.

(Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)