It appears that Foster Gillett, the son of former Liverpool co-owner George, will not be buying a football club at the moment after all.
Foster was recently linked with buying Scottish outfit Hearts, with reports claiming that had an offer to buy the club rejected by current owner Ann Budge.
George Gillett was co-owner of the Reds between 2006-10, along with Tom Hicks, before the club was sold to Fenway Sports Group, owned by John W Henry.
It appears that Budge has no intentions of selling Hearts, despite the club recently being relegated to the Scottish Championship.
This was after clubs north of the border voted in favour of calling the season to a halt early due to the coronavirus pandemic – a decision which also handed Celtic the Scottish Premiership title.
Budge has spoken about many people expressing an interest in signing Hearts, and insists that she will still remain at the helm.
“You have no idea how many offers I have had, certainly last year I had two or three,” Budge told the Scotsman.
“And since all the problems have started, my assumption is that people are out there looking for any bargains they think they can get. We didn’t even talk about money or anything else.
“It was never likely in my mind [to sell] unless I thought the club was going to go under or I thought we couldn’t survive this [coronavirus crisis]. Then the situation may be different, but I genuinely do not believe that is the case and, therefore, my plans haven’t changed. The plan was always to hand the club over to the supporters and that hasn’t changed.
“We are not interested and we will carry on, doing our best to see us through the difficult period.”
“I don’t believe we have to go down that route,” added Budge, reaffirming her intentions not to sell the club she has worked tirelessly to rebuild since her takeover in 2014.
Hicks and Gillett’s ill-fated four year spell in charge of Liverpool saw a progressive downturn for the club that put the Reds on the brink of administration, and also saw Rafa Benitez sacked in 2010 after six years on Merseyside.
Foster was made a director at Anfield during his father’s spell as joint-owner of the Reds, and also recently held talks with Championship outfit Derby County over a potential takeover.
