“No club its sums more forensically and in more detail than Liverpool,” said Maguire.
“They will have looked at the options that have been place before them in terms of a kit manufacturing deal.
“They have looked at all the metrics in terms of upfront fees and per-piece commissions.
“Whatever they consider to be best is the direction of travel, they will choose. And that has led to the decision to go with Adidas.
“They like to keep their cards very closeto their chest. I can see why Ben Latty was reluctant to give an indication.
“In my view, Liverpool’s approach is very much geared towards revenue maximisation. They will know the appropriate parameters in terms of how they split up the individual elements of the deal.”
Salah to Saudi: The finances
While some European giants have been linked with Salah, the Saudi Pro League has consistently been touted as his most likely post-Liverpool destination.
Al-Ittihad tabled a £150m offer for the player last summer, which would have been the third-most expensive transfer in history and the biggest by an order of magnitude for a 30-plus-year-old.
In terms of his potential salary in the Gulf state, Maguire argues that offers from the Pro League will dwarf what FSG are able to offer Salah.
“Given the quality of play we have seen from Salah at the start of 2024-25, he clearly has more than a year left of talent to offer.
“From Liverpool’s point of view, as a global brand, Salah ticks all of the boxes in terms of his talent, personality, diversity and so on.
“From all of those perspectives, you can see why the club would want to retain his services.
“At the same time, they are wise enough to acknowledge that, should he want to maximise his return in the later stages of his career, they are not in a position to match what could be given to him by the Saudi Pro League.
“I’m sure they could offer him a satisfactory deal in terms of remuneration. But that could pale into significance compared to what might be offered to him elsewhere.”
“They will have looked at the options that have been place before them in terms of a kit manufacturing deal.
“They have looked at all the metrics in terms of upfront fees and per-piece commissions.
“Whatever they consider to be best is the direction of travel, they will choose. And that has led to the decision to go with Adidas.
“They like to keep their cards very close to their chest. I can see why Ben Latty was reluctant to give an indication.
FSG’s long-term financial plan for Liverpool
Liverpool and FSG typically favour youth over experience, preferring to develop talent rather than buying readymade superstars.
Their retention strategy with aging players has followed a similar model, with the club not standing in players’ ways if a deal makes financial sense for all involved.
They appear to be heading further in the direction of player development with their pursuit of a Liverpool-led multi-club model.
More than half of the clubs operate in some form of shared ownership umbrella. Liverpool themselves have indirect links to Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta and Sevilla through FSG investors Arctos.
FSG withdrew from talks to take over French side Bordeaux in the summer but still see the multi-club model as their future. Crucially, this was a key proviso of Michael Edwards’ return to the club.
This will come at a cost, and the Salah contract situation does not exits in a financial vacuum.
“The horse has already bolted in terms of UEFA being able to be in position to prevent it,” said Maguire, “it’s now a case of managing it.
“We saw Liverpool come close to acquiring a new club over the summer, but they decided that particular club wasn’t for them.
“You can be assured that they are continuing to monitor that particular market. But FSG will only go ahead if the complementary benefits to Liverpool outweigh the costs of investment.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC a...
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
“I think it will be challenging for UEFA to reverse history in terms of these relationships.
“Also, while Super League doesn’t exits at present, what UEFA don’t want to do is upset senior clubs in Europe to such an extent that they might think about resurrecting that competition.”
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