Chief executive Ayre says removal of ÂŁ69m of debt is another example of owners' continued support of the club Ian Ayre says the Fenway Sports Group move in clearing ÂŁ69m of debt from the clubâs books is just another demonstration of their long term commitment to Anfield.
A ÂŁ69m sum technically owed to FSG has been written off and converted into equity, todayâs accounts reveal.
Said the Liverpool CEO: âItâs another great example of the commitment that the owners make to the club.
âItâs effectively writing off that debt for the club and putting us in a healthier position.
âThey have continued to do that throughout as everybody has seen and at the same time as doing that they have put forward the first instalment, almost ÂŁ50m, of additional money in for the first phase of the stadium.
âIt just continues to show their commitment, making those two gestures and at the same time reinvesting all of the profit from the sale of Luis Suarez.
âIt just tells you the type of commitment they have and it is very much a long term commitment.
âWe see heading towards us now the arrival of this new main stand at Anfield and I think that lends itself very well to the future of the club and how long term these owners look at the club.
âThatâs something that will be there forever for this football club and I like to think they will be around for a long time as well.
Fenwayâs top trio were at Wembley on Sunday to see the Reds lose heartbreaking on penalties to Manchester City.
Said Ayre: âThey have been to Wembley before but they certainly said for a final it was fantastic.
âI spoke to Mike Gordon on Monday afternoon and he was like everyone, disappointed at the ultimate loss but he really enjoyed the occasion and felt it was one of those things that you will always remember.
âGoing to Wembley is special for anyone whether you are from Liverpool or Boston or anywhere else.
âThe whole experience of the day was fantastic and the owners enjoyed it as much as anyone else.â
Ambitions remain as high as ever at Anfield
Ayre also stressed that everyone at Liverpool remains committed to winning trophies and competing at the very highest levels - including a return to the Champions League stage, which Liverpool are struggling to make this season under new boss JĂźrgen Klopp.
Said Ayre: âWe said when this ownership group came in that we wanted to win and keep winning and moving forward and that means everywhere in the club.
âAnd we are making that progress. We have a great manager now and we are making progress there as well.
âNothing ever changes in terms of our ambitions. We always want to be playing Champions League football and thatâs always our ambition. I have never known a year when it wasnât our ambition at this club. Itâs not always a reality but as an ambition it is always up there.
âAnd whether you speak to current manager or former managers it is always their ambition as well so you donât have to create that pressure or expectation on a manager.
âBecause a manager who is the manager of Liverpool Football Club, whether it is JĂźrgen or Brendan or Kenny or whoever, they always have the same view.
âJĂźrgen has played in the Champions League before and I know for certain he wants to play in it again. Everybody is focused on the same goal.
âAs to the financial value of it, as we said, we are trying to compete with the best teams in the Premier League and the best teams in Europe and in order to do that you want to have the best opportunity to buy the best players. Sometimes that means you have got to invest a lot of money and sometimes it doesnât.
âIt is why in the round we are focused on our entire business, because if you just focus on the importance of Champions League revenue, then you might fall behind in other areas.
If we do the best we can in all areas then in some years we might lose out on Champions League revenue but we might gain in other areas like commercial or what have you.
âBut the important thing is to be ambitious and be committed and keep investing and all of those things are happening and for that reason I think we are on the right track.â
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fsg-committed-liverpool-fc-long-10973745 Not too sure how this works, massaging the figures springs to mind.
Probably for the FFP rules which is powerless anyway.