Liverpool owner defends transfer strategy
Liverpool owner John W Henry has written an open letter to the club’s fans, explaining the side’s transfer strategy and rejecting claims that the side have failed in the recent window.
The Reds did not bring in a new striker before the end of August, leading to frustration from the Anfield faithful given that Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez are the only two remaining forwards at the club.
However Henry has defended the Merseyside club’s stance.
“I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved,” he said in an open letter to the fans, published in Sky Sports.
“They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.
“A summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future – Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi – could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.
“Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.
“The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was – and will be in the future – about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth.
“Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years.
“Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club’s traditions.
“We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
“Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash.
“They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It’s often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club.
“We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see.
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“That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us.
“We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for,”the American concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
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