In recent days, Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan may well have received an invite to an informal dinner.
Executives from the 20 Premier League clubs were due to gather in London on Tuesday for a shareholders’ meeting and afterwards, they had the opportunity to attend a social gathering organised by the new Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, according to The Athletic.
Boehly has effectively been operating in a dual role since he took the helm at Stamford Bridge, serving not only as the chairman but also as the interim sporting director following the departure of Marina Granovskaia.
The American, then, has effectively been overseeing Chelsea’s recruitment this summer despite his lack of experience of the football transfer market.
He’s held talks with super-agent Jorge Mendes over Cristiano Ronaldo, who, of course, wants to leave Manchester United.
And he’s also been in extensive contact with the reigning champions Manchester City, attempting to pull off a double swoop and half-succeeding. Chelsea struck a £50m deal for Raheem Sterling and also pursued Nathan Aké, who would have cost a further £45m, but appear to have moved onto other targets.
Still, it seems that Boehly, perhaps ignorant of the unspoken rules of the English market, is very much open to doing business with ‘big six’ rivals, and he’s also trying to cultivate good relations.
It’s possible that this will change when a specialist sporting director is in place, but for now, it appears Liverpool may be able to capitalise on the regime change at Stamford Bridge.
Realistically, committed stars still won’t be available. The Reds would still only be able to sign players either approaching the end of their contracts — like Ronaldo and Sterling — or those who are deemed surplus to requirements.
One player who fits into the first category is Mason Mount. The Englishman is into the final two years of the deal he signed in 2019, one which puts him ‘at the lower-end of the first-team pay structure’.
The Athletic report that ‘elite clubs in England’ are monitoring the situation as the uncertainty continues, and it would be a surprise if that group didn’t include Liverpool. If his future is unresolved next summer, Chelsea will be under big pressure to sell. Already, it would not be a shock if his name was coming up at Boehly’s off-the-record soirée.
Christian Pulisic perhaps fits both criteria. The Blues aren’t actively looking to offload him, but equally he only started 13 Premier League games last season, partly because of injury but also because Thomas Tuchel isn’t entirely convinced.
There’s thought to be ‘no prospect’ of a renewal as it stands ahead of the expiry of Pulisic’s contract in 2024. Liverpool may at least be tempted to enquire about the player, with The Athletic describing Jürgen Klopp as a ‘long-term admirer’. Indeed, there was a time when he seemed destined to move to Anfield from Borussia Dortmund.
Klopp could also take a big gamble on Callum Hudson-Odoi, another who’s out of contract that year, or Timo Werner, a player who may now fit the ‘surplus to requirements’ label. In the first instance, he would have to unlock consistency, and in the second, he would have to restore confidence, but there is a player whom Liverpool once really admired in there.
There are undoubtedly players the Reds boss likes at Chelsea, but he would probably have seen them as untouchable in the past.
Under Boehly, however, there are signs that the door might just be ever so slightly ajar. And maybe, with Arsenal and Man City doing £75m worth of business this summer too, the landscape might be beginning to shift. There’s nowhere better to test the waters than in the relative secrecy of an informal executives-only meeting, and it would be no surprise if FSG have done just that.
