Stan Collymore has claimed a Newcastle United vs Manchester City rivalry would be damaging for the Premier League - and the rest of the division needs Liverpool to stop it.
News emerged last week that long-term owners at Anfield, Fenway Sports Group, are prepared to sell the club. Arriving on Merseyside in 2010, the American owners - headed by John W. Henry - have overseen Liverpool’s rise back to the top of English football.
However, supporters have grown frustrated in recent seasons at a lack of spending compared to rival clubs. Off-field controversies such as the European Super League fiasco and FSG’s attempt to trademark the word “Liverpool” have also enraged the fanbase.
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Football ownership has been a hot topic in recent times following the Saudi-backed takeover at Newcastle. Roman Abramovich’s hasty Stamford Bridge exit in May amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine also reignited the issue.
Middle East investment is touted as a possibility for Liverpool, too, with FSG reportedly demanding $4billion for the club. Ironically, Collymore would welcome investment that would help the Reds “compete with Man City” despite claiming Newcastle’s then-proposed takeover reflected “badly” on football.
The former Liverpool striker insists the Premier League cannot afford City and Newcastle to stoke up a money-driven rivalry in the coming years. Writing in his Daily Mirror column, Collymore declared: “It is clear Jurgen Klopp needs the financial backing to compete with Manchester City that FSG aren’t able to give him.
‘But it’s not just Liverpool supporters who need the Reds to be competitive, it’s the Premier League as a whole and it’s vital that my old club get things right. None of us want our top-flight to become a one-horse race for City or, in maybe two or three years, a two-horse race between City and Newcastle.
‘That’s because, with the greatest of respect to those two teams, if that is the rivalry in the Premier League in three years’ time, then the vast majority of people aren’t going to give a flying you know what about it.
“I played against both, at Maine Road and St James’ Park, and I know how passionate both sets of supporters are. But the simple truth is Liverpool and United underpin what the Premier League is in terms of it being a global juggernaut.
They are the two clubs everybody wants to beat, they are the ones who fill the front and back pages – and that is important not only for the Premier League as a global brand but for football, too.”
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