So far this transfer window Liverpool has been the busiest of any Premier League club, and managing director Ian Ayre says they are not finished yet, and that their policy of buying young players will pay benefits down the road.
Liverpool’s owners the Fenway Sporting Groups policy is to invest in young players who show potential, and will have a good sell on value as they develop under the training they will receive at Anfield, which Ayer insists is the only way the club can avoid the financial problems that were crippling them before the Americans took over five years ago.
“I stood on the Kop for many years as a fan, and like everyone else I’d love to buy all the greatest players, regardless of price,” he told the League Managers’ Association magazine The Manager.
“But, as we saw under the club’s previous ownership, things can all go very wrong financially; then people will hold you accountable for not running the club in the right way.
“You can’t work that way. You have to have a very detailed, thought-out plan and ensure everyone buys into it and adheres to it.
“That is what we have been doing and will continue to do.
“It doesn’t mean we are not investing in or buying good players; we are just doing it in a smart and sustainable way.
“We may not be competing in the Champions League this year but we are still making progress as a club and continuing to add quality to our squad.
“We are also improving financially, which means that as we go forward with the plan we will have more resources and will be able to invest more than we have in the past.”
The club currently has a six member transfer team which Ayre says works well, with manager Brendan Rodgers having the final say on who they sign.
“If your manager doesn’t understand your long-term plan it will never work, because he’s in charge of the biggest cost item – the players,” Ayre said.
“Brendan is very much a team person, he understands budgets and the financial implications of bringing in certain players, and he is very easy to get on with.
“That always helps gel a team together, because it means you can spend time together socially and professionally and discuss things in a relaxed way.”
Of the way FSG have changed the way the club is run since taking over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Ayre added: “We needed a plan and a group of people who were committed to it and who would work together to achieve it.
“This ownership and management team is strong and united.
“There are no egos, we are honest with one another and I know I have their full support.
“I have direct and open lines of communication with the owners at all times and we make and stand or fall by decisions as a group.
“The unity that we achieved is exactly what Liverpool needed to move forward.
“It’s now in a far more profitable situation and that is the result of good management and good people, which includes our manager.”
