NESV is believed to have been concerned by the millions
of pounds haemorrhaged on transfer fees and wages by the club in
recent years as it examined Liverpool's finances as part of the due
diligence process carried out before the £300 million purchase of
the Anfield side was completed.
Under Rafael Benítez, Liverpool spent
more than £230 million in six years on fees alone – though much of
that was recouped in sales – while the purchases of the likes of
Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Brad Jones and Paul Konchesky
totalled £25 million in Hodgson's first summer at the club.
Though NESV's takeover freed up £36 million a year of revenue
that had previously been used to service Liverpool's £282 million
debts to be reinvested into the club, and though its offer did make
provision for an immediate injection of funds into the playing
staff, the American consortium has made it clear it expects value
for money, both from fees and salaries.
"We have to be smart," John W Henry, NESV's principal backer,
who will assume a place on Liverpool's board, said after the deal
was completed.
"We have to be more efficient. When we spend a dollar it has to
be wisely. We cannot afford player contracts that do not make
long-term sense. We have to be smart, bold, aggressive. It's a
great challenge."
Henry will take an active role in football matters at Anfield,
assessing both Hodgson's suggested transfer targets and setting
budgets for contract renegotiations of players already at the
club.
The 61 year-old has already expressed his concern at the wages
earned by older players on long-term, high-value contracts.
NESV's approach – applied with great success at the Boston Red
Sox – is likely to rule Liverpool out of the glamour signings which
many fans hoped would follow the eviction of previous owners Tom
Hicks and George Gillett.
Instead, the club's recent scouting activity suggests they
intend to follow the Arsenal model – for which NESV has been keen
to stress its admiration – or, perhaps more pertinently, institute
on an informal basis the transfer policy employed at Manchester
United, where premium fees are only paid for younger players with
resale potential.
"At the Boston Red Sox, we invested a lot in management and the
scouting system," said NESV chairman Tom Werner.
"We believe the foundation of any good sports club has to be the
experience, valuation and understanding of scouting, so we will
invest in that as well."
Those players assessed by Hodgson and his scouting team in
recent weeks include Steven Defour, the Standard Liège captain and
a long-term target for the Liverpool manager.
At 22, and around £12 million, Defour represents minimum risk
for maximum reward.
Likewise Ibrahim Afellay, the PSV Eindhoven winger Liverpool
whom have assessed on several occasions.
Already a Dutch international at 24 and heralded for several
years as one of the brightest prospects in Europe, Afellay would
fall within Liverpool's budget, while his wage demands would remain
comparatively modest.
More expensive would be Eden Hazard, Defour's Belgian
international team-mate, currently with Lille.
The 19 year-old has attracted interest from Barcelona, Real
Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea and United, and could cost as much as £18
million.
However, Liverpool believe they can tempt the player – who is
likely to be advised by his agent to seek a move to a club where he
will play regular first-team football – and Kenny Dalglish was
watching when the French side played Levski Sofia in the Europa
League last Thursday.
Hodgson will not be allowed to add any players, though, without
first trimming the squad. Liverpool boast the fourth-highest wage
bill in the Premier League – standing at £107 million in 2009,
according to football finance analysts Deloitte – but find
themselves marooned in 18th place in the table, having finished
seventh in Benítez's last campaign.
NESV does not blame Hodgson for that poor performance so far
this season, but rather interprets it as evidence that many of the
squad do not warrant either their reputations or their
earnings.
Henry's experience as a futures trader, as well as his noted
obsession with both sporting and financial statistics, put him in a
perfect position to analyse such information.
He is acutely aware that figures suggest that, with almost
unerring accuracy, a club's league position is defined by their
wage bill. That Liverpool's key statistics are so discordant
suggests the money is not being spent wisely.
He is also a devotee of Sabermetrics, the statistical analysis
of the value of baseball players, pioneered by Bill James and which
led Henry to appoint Theo Epstein as a general manager of the
Boston Red Sox in 2002 at the age of 28.
Epstein applied James's principles – which are designed to help
poorer teams identify value-for-money acquisitions – to lead the
franchise to two World Series with a squad largely composed of
bargain purchases.
Initial impressions of his time at Liverpool suggest he retains
his faith in the method.
Six deals that would not have happened under NESV
regime
Fernando Morientes
The Spanish international, signed for £6.3 million as a 28 year-old
in January 2005, failed miserably at Anfield, scoring just 12 goals
in 61 appearances. NESV’s belief in signing young players would
have precluded the deal.
Robbie Keane
Signed as a 28 year-old for £20.3 million in 2008, the Irish
international would also have been judged by NESV to be too old to
warrant such a premium fee.
Alberto Aquilani
Though the Italian international’s age (26) and pedigree would have
still made him a legitimate target, concerns over his injury record
would have ruled out a £17 million move for the Roma player, now on
loan at Juventus.
Jamie Carragher
John W Henry may have been concerned by the sight of a 32 year-old
being handed a lucrative two-year contract just before NESV
completed its takeover.
Maxi Rodríguez
The Argentine international, age 29, came on a free transfer from
Atlético Madrid boasting a fine pedigree, but his wages, believed
to be around £70,000 a week until June 2013, may have discouraged
NESV from such a long contract.
Paul Konchesky
A four-year contract for a 29 year-old – as well as a £5 million
fee – does not match the profile of deal NESV believes can help
Liverpool develop in the long-term.
