Report: Fenway slashes Reds' budget
According to the Daily Mirror, Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group will be slashing the club's wage budget in the wake of their failure to qualify for the Champions League.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
After what can only be described as a disastrous Premier League campaign, Liverpool will not be taking part in the Champions League for the third successive year. Missing out once more on the possible revenue from the continent's top competition is a huge financial blow to the Reds, and the club's owners have felt that necessary precautions must be taken to prevent the books from becoming the same colour as their kit.
As such, Fenway are believed to be planning a reduction in the club's wage and transfer budget, news that will not be pleasing to the fans, players and the incoming manager.
This cutback will have repercussions on star players such as Luis Suarez, Daniel Agger, and Martin Skrtel, all of whom are looking to negotiate new deals in the summer. Suarez and Skrtel are transfer targets for Italian sides Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina. These rival clubs will be monitoring the situation closely to see if an opportunity presents itself to offer the duo better wage terms than the Reds.
The newly appointed manager will also have to work within the limited transfer budget planned, as Fenway do not wish to see a repeat of Kenny Dalglish's spending spree. After Dalglish expended 120 million pounds during his time at Anfield, the owners are now seeking a manager with the skills to identify young, inexpensive talent, as well as to blood youth players from the club's academy.