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Man City owner Sheikh Mansour ploughs $750m into fund set up by ke

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Man City owner Sheikh Mansour ploughs $750m into fund set up by key Liverpool and FSG partner

RedBird Capital Partners, the American investment firm that has an 11 per cent stake in Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, has raised almost $2.5bn for its latest fund to invest into sports.

RedBird’s fourth fund has raised $2.3bn of its $2.5bn goal so far, with $750m of that figure having arrived from Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments (IMI), a private firm controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City.

The fund, which is expected to surpass its $2.5bn goal, has raised $1.56bn in capital commitments from other entities, although the extent of the IMI commitment has seen it renamed RedBird-IMI from its former moniker of RedBird IV.

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It is the latest move from New York-based, Gerry Cardinale-led RedBird, which acquired controlling ownership of Serie A giants AC Milan in September of last year. The takeover of the Rossoneri added to a portfolio of sporting assets that includes that 11 per cent FSG stake, ownership of French Ligue 1 club Toulouse, a minority stake in the Rajasthan Royals IPL cricket team, and co-ownership of the XFL in America with actor Dwayne Johnson and his business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia.

The CEO for the fund, which will target opportunities across sports, media and entertainment, as well as potentially other areas where RedBird has investments, is the former chief of CNN in the US, Jeff Zucker, with Cardinale the chief investment officer.

RedBird were earlier this year erroneously linked to taking a stake in Liverpool on its own in addition to the indirect ownership stake that it has in the club through the $750m deal it struck with FSG back in March 2021. The capital that arrived through that deal allowed for FSG to ease any cash flow issues across its portfolio as well as allowing the firm to press ahead with the $950m acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins in November of the same year.

The ECHO have been told by people in the US familiar with the matter that RedBird will not be participating in the investment search that FSG are currently conducting, which is expected to move to an advanced stage during the summer after potential investment partners were identified through an initial search led by Mike Gordon and facilitated by US banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Speaking to the ECHO in March, FSG chief and principal Liverpool owner John Henry said: “While we formalised a process that has identified potential investors for the club, we remain fully committed to the long-term success of the club.

“That has been the case since day one in 2010. Our efforts every day have been and continue to be focused on the long-term health and competitiveness of the club. Investment in the club is never for the short-term. This approach has been successful over the long haul with patience necessary from time to time.

“In regard to Liverpool Football Club our commitment remains stronger than ever.”

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‘Spoke to Jurgen’: Former Liverpool player says Klopp asked him to join his coaching team at Anfield

Former Liverpool defender Kolo Toure has revealed that Jurgen Klopp asked him to stay on as a coach at Anfield.

Toure spent three years at Liverpool, leaving following the Europa League final defeat in 2016. But in a feature for liverpoolfc.com today, the Ivorian says Klopp actually offered him the chance to stay.

“I spoke to Jurgen and he told me my contract wasn’t going to be renewed – but he did, however, want me as a coach in his backroom team. That was massive for me,” Toure explained. “I think I was in Africa when he made the call, ‘Kolo, we want to keep you but I want you in my coaching staff.’ I told him I needed to think about it.

“Having the opportunity to work with him as a coach was immense – it was going to be fantastic for me. But at the same time, I was talking with Brendan at Celtic as well. Brendan was offering me one more year as a player. It was a hard decision to make, very hard.

“Liverpool was a great place for me. With the intensity of the game and my personality, it all fit really well. But ultimately, I wanted to play one more year and then just see what came after that.”

Toure declines Jurgen’s offer

In the end, Toure did join his former Reds boss Rodgers at Celtic. The Ivory Coast legend helping Brendan to another league title in Scotland.

After that, Toure joined Rodgers’ backroom team, before following him to Leicester City in 2019. That’s where Kolo remained until he took the step-up to being a first-team manager late last year.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Unfortunately though, football management showed just how brutal it can be, Toure sacked after just nine games in charge of Wigan Athletic.

Now without work, there is – in theory – an opportunity for Klopp and his old centre-back to work together once again. It will be interesting to see whether anything comes of that.

In the meantime, the 42-year-old continues to be highly thought of at Liverpool. It certainly isn’t the club he’s most associated with – he’ll always be known as an ‘invincible’ at Arsenal – but he made many friends during his three years on Merseyside.

It would have been great to have seen him on the touchline with Jurgen. But having earned his stripes as a coach elsewhere, maybe it’s still something that could happen.

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