The Multi-Club Motion
So Fenway Sports Group want to buy Málaga. Are we the baddies?
I want to start this piece by boarding an imaginary flight. We’re about to travel as far away as you can possibly imagine. Not quite Australia, no. But close. We’re looking at 20 hours of flying as a minimum if all goes according to plan.
Japan is our destination. We’re heading to a city by the name of Kawasaki. An industrial hotspot that has been transformed into more of a modern haven of culture and technology in recent years.
The place is lovely — especially at night — but we aren’t here to take selfies for Instagram, no. We’re here to catch a game of football, which is why we’ve got tickets to watch Kawasaki Frontale face FC Tokyo at their home stadium, which is about the same size as Selhurst Park.
There’s a forward playing on the left for the hosts. He’s tricky and direct, and seems to be a level above everybody else on the pitch. His name is Kaoru Mitoma, a 23-year-old talent who has never played outside of his homeland.
He’s good, no doubt. But he’s surely not good enough for the Premier League, right? I mean, there’s a reason players don’t tend to make the switch from Japan to England overnight.
Well, at that point in time back in 2021, Liverpool were aware of Mitoma. The Japanese attacker had shown up as a potential Premier League talent in the data, but the Reds simply had no need for him.
Mitoma acted as little more than a momentary point of interest for the scientists on Merseyside. Nobody was realistically boarding a flight to Asia to watch him, even despite the numbers behind his performances suggesting he was deserving of closer inspection.
Brighton and Hove Albion ended up signing him, with owner Tony Bloom immediately sending him to his second club in Belgium — Union Saint-Gilloise — before testing him in England’s top flight.
Just under four years after the Seagulls brought Mitoma to Europe for a nominal fee, Al-Nassr made a bid of around £54m to take him to Saudi Arabia in January, which Brighton rejected.
Alright, time for another imaginary flight. But it’s cool, we aren’t going as far this time. Germany, to be precise. We’re heading to Bavaria, but not Munich, no. Our destination isn’t quite as Hollywood.
Indeed, we aren’t even attending a first division game. Our match is Ingolstadt 04 against Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga. There’s a creative spark playing for the home side. He’s not that fast, yet he seems to be two steps ahead of everyone else.
His name is Pascal, Pascal Groß. Ingolstadt would later go on to achieve promotion, with their star number ten — aged just 23 — scoring seven goals while registering an impressive 16 assists.
He’s good, no doubt. But he’s surely not good enough for the Premier League, right? I mean, there’s a reason players don’t tend to make the switch from the second tier in Germany to England overnight.
Well, just like Mitoma, Liverpool were aware of Groß back then. A player who shined in the data but represented a pure gamble given the level of his competition. The Reds refrained from bringing him to Anfield, with Brighton — who else? — proceeding to poach his signature.
Groß ended up amassing 228 appearances in the Premier League, assisting 45 goals and establishing himself as a shrewd and versatile midfielder who didn’t need pace to gain a yard on his opponents.
There was value in the 2. Bundesliga. There was value in the J1 League, too. And Liverpool had a hunch in both cases. They just opted against pulling the trigger, opening the door for Brighton to place a few bets of their own.
So where am I going with all this? Well, news emerged over the weekend suggesting Fenway Sports Group are exploring the possibility of purchasing a majority stake in Málaga.
Ever since Michael Edwards made his return last year, he’s been tasked with identifying a suitable club for FSG to absorb as part of a new-look multi-club model, with Bordeaux initially targeted before a deal collapsed shortly after.
The possible acquisition of another club was said to be one of the main reasons behind Edwards making a surprise comeback, with the ex-Reds transfer boss viewing a second club as essential to Liverpool’s continued growth.
Málaga reached the quarter-final of the Champions League when Jürgen Klopp took Borussia Dortmund to the final in 2013, but they now sit in the division below La Liga, currently sat 15th in the table.
Yet, when news of a possible takeover surfaced, the immediate reaction on Merseyside seemed to be a negative one, with many supporters generally standing against the idea of multi-club ownership.
There’s a moral argument in there, for sure, but I’ve since found myself in disagreement with many of my fellow Reds on this subject. I don’t think we should group multi-club ownership alongside greed, lust and the seven deadly sins.
Liverpool sitting under the same umbrella as Málaga can be a good thing. And not just for the Reds. I’m talking about all parties here.
So football is about players. It’s all just a big game of convincing the best players on the planet to wear your shirt. When you recruit good players, you thrive. When you recruit bad players, you struggle.
I’ve said quite a few times on this Substack that Liverpool are excellent at scouting and have proved as much over the past decade. When it comes to talent identification, the Reds are superb.
But because we’re talking about Liverpool here — a heavyweight club with a squad packed full of elite performers — the large majority of players simply aren’t good enough to be deserving of minutes under Arne Slot. There’s a demand for immediate success.
That’s why Liverpool can’t buy the likes of Mitoma direct from Kawasaki. It’s why Liverpool opted against Groß. Enock Mwepu was another who was liked when representing Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.
There have likely been a countless number of hidden gems that Liverpool’s scientists have flagged over the years. But because of the demand for success at Anfield, virtually all of them have moved elsewhere.
Clubs like Brighton, Manchester City and Chelsea, however, can essentially hoover up as many talents as possible from all over the world, before developing them within their own respective networks.
Last summer, for example, City needed a forward and tackled their void by moving Savinho to Manchester, after the Brazilian had showed promise while representing Girona in La Liga.
Chelsea sit under the same wing as Strasbourg in France, with the Ligue 1 outfit presenting a platform for players who could be good enough to play at Stamford Bridge in the future, including Andrey Santos and Diego Moreira, who featured in my recent Replacing Andy Robertson series.
As for Brighton, Bloom takes so many low-risk gambles before testing their credentials at Union SG. If they flourish, they get tested at Premier League level. Examples include Mitoma, Simon Adingra and Deniz Undav.
And here’s the thing. The so-called ‘feeder’ club can still thrive. It doesn’t have to endure a miserable existence. And based on the current fortunes of Málaga, I mean, things can hardly get any worse.
Girona played in the Champions League this term. And in recent seasons, a whole host of top players have represented them, including Savinho, Miguel Gutiérrez, Artem Dovbyk, Aleix García and Arnau Martinez.
Strasbourg are currently sat fifth in Ligue 1 ahead of Lyon and Lille, with a unique playing style that differentiates them from their competitors. And Union SG faced Liverpool in the group stages of the Europa League two years ago.
The teams in question are doing well because — yeah, you guessed it — their colours are being represented by good players. And sure, once those players get too good, they will probably leave. But that’s part of football and would happen regardless of the ownership model.
From a Liverpool perspective, a connection with Málaga would also open up the prospect of having more control over the development of youngsters such as Tyler Morton, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah.
Stefan Bajčetić is a good example. The Spaniard went on loan to Salzburg last summer, with Liverpool putting their trust in Klopp’s former assistant, Pep Lijnders. But after less than six months, the Dutchman got sacked.
Bajčetić has been forced to spend the remainder of the campaign at Las Palmas. He’s doing well of late, but Liverpool’s influence on his progress is limited right now, which wouldn’t be the case if FSG owned a second club, like Málaga, perhaps.
Indeed, it’s a problem the Reds have tried to mitigate in recent years, sending academy graduates to nearby clubs such as Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, while also appointing a dedicated loans manager.
It isn’t quite multi-club collaboration, but it’s something. And the likes of Bradley, Harvey Elliott and Sepp van den Berg have benefited from their temporary moves elsewhere. But a sister club like Málaga would offer more control for Edwards and those at the top of the tree.
Now, it’s important to note that multi-club ownership isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It sounds good in practice, but it’s hard to get right. And when it goes wrong or when the guys at the top don’t really care that much, that’s when the feeder club tends to suffer.
But considering the efficient nature of FSG and Liverpool over the past decade, I can’t imagine a world in which Málaga don’t return to La Liga within a few years, with every party inside the network benefiting from the recruitment and development of good players.
Think about it. The likes of Mitoma and Groß signed direct from leftfield markets for insignificant fees, before being tested away from the spotlight in Spain, and eventually tried at Anfield.
Málaga supporters see their beloved team improve. They watch exciting starlets with bags of potential represent their badge. They get to grips with a playing style that mirrors what Liverpool supporters witness every week on Merseyside, with both clubs helping each other.
It’s definitely possible. I know it’s a delicate subject, but not all ownership is the same. Liverpool have a limited number of pathways for talent right now. There’s only so many minutes available. But that would change with Málaga on board.
You don’t need to spend 20 hours on a flight to find a hidden gem anymore. You just need a laptop. The rough diamonds tend to show up as outliers. And Liverpool would be in a position to collect more of them as part of a multi-club network.
Vamos.
If football were not so profoundly corrupt multi-club within UEFA, or any confederation, would be banned. There is simply no way of guaranteeing basic sporting integrity when clubs play each other while being owned by the same people. When they claim to have no influence on the clubs they own it is in the same way that Saudi Arabia claimed not to be controlling Newcastle during the takeover and then changed the second strip to the Saudi colours as a two-fingered salute to the 'regulators'.
However, UEFA and FIFA respond to every corruption story by becoming even more dominated by a limited range of interests. So the only question for Liverpool is do we want to protect our ability to remain an elite club? If yes, we probably have no alternative but to try multi-club. Football in general is not better because of it. Yet again we compromise because of the distortions caused by oil states and messianic narcissists (no other way of looking at Boehly).
As a separate, but linked, point, FSG have been responsible owners. Dramatically better than their predecessors and the alternative to that previous ownership. I think we have to assume that they will be responsible owners of other clubs as long as they retain roughly the current management/control. But it's hard to look at Redbird and not to be worried about the future.
Something about multi club ownership will never quite sit right with me. The main advantage I see is in helping a club that is in need of financial stability, but even that seems a little disingenuous given the overall aim.
The biggest problem I have is with the threat to the integrity of competition. Imagine a scenario where Liverpool need Malaga to lose or draw in order to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League, or vice versa. Regardless of the result there, the inevitable scrutiny would be justified.
Multi club ownership makes total sense for the flagship club in terms of player development and business, as you've outlined, but is it really ethical? Maybe it's just the latest form of marginal gain. I guess time will tell, but it feels like one of those times where the genie is being let out of the bottle and by the time UEFA, FIFA, etc, realise it's a problem, it'll be too late.
I won't stop supporting my club if we do go down this road of course, but we might have to get used to having some (justified) scrutiny leveled at us from rival fans.
Anyway, I enjoyed the article, thanks! 😂 Interesting subject.