Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Sunday, May 9.
Minamino transfer regret
Takumi Minamino was always a low-risk signing for Liverpool, but it is safe to say it has not yet quite worked out for the Japanese, who is currently on loan at Southampton.
Liverpool took advantage of Minamino's £7.25m release clause having been impressed by his performances under Jesse Marsch, in particular, at Red Bull Salzburg.
He netted at Anfield against Liverpool for the Austrian side in the Champions League and was clearly a gifted player.
But Minamino was not the only player who stood out in that Salzburg team, on that particular night or in the first half of the 2019/20 season as a whole.
"For Minamino, it just has not quite worked at Southampton even though it looked like a good move on paper," said David Lynch on the Blood Red podcast.
"For the player, you are a little bit concerned because he has not set the world alight and the problem at Liverpool is that he does not have the confidence to have a real crack at the first team.
"Minamino is not one you would be desperate to sell but if a decent offer came in, you would think they would consider it, which is a shame.
"He was a real stand-out when he came to Anfield in the Champions League."
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Peter Lim hint at what could have been
As far as takeovers at football clubs go, Liverpool's in 2010 was pretty dramatic, writes Dave Powell.
A battle to take control of the Reds was finally settled in the High Court after much legal wrangling, the club wrestled from the ruinous regime of Tom Hicks and George Gillett that had taken Liverpool to the brink financially, with Fenway Sports Group (then NESV) claiming victory and promising a better future for the club.
Fast forward a decade and there has been major highs and huge lows during the stewardship of FSG at the club. The 2019 Champions League win and the 2020 Premier League title have been the high watermark, but FSG's significant part in the failed European Super League plot last month means that the owners' stock has never been as low among Liverpool fans, and is unsalvageable in the eyes of some.
FSG would no doubt argue that they have delivered in the past 10 years, reducing debt, making the club profitable and winning two of the biggest prizes in European football, ending a 30-year wait for an English league title for Reds fans.
Of the options that were available at the time of the Hicks and Gillett sale, would the club be in a better state now?
Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, a man with a net worth in excess of £2bn according to Forbes, was someone who came closer than most to taking the reins at Anfield.
Lim, who made his fortune on the stock market, had been in the running to take over from Hicks and Gillett, making two offers, reportedly of £300m and £320m for the club before exiting the race in the week of the takeover by FSG, citing that the decision had already been made in the heads of the board and that he was not to be their choice.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
