Liverpool principal owner John Henry has reacted to the club’s failure to sign a striker on transfer deadline day and vowed that the Reds will “never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages”.
Henry and Fenway Sports Group, who completed a takeover at Anfield in October 2010, have felt serious criticism for the first time since buying the club due to what fans viewed as a lack of investment in the playing squad.
Brendan Rodgers had targeted USA international Clint Dempsey as the ideal candidate to replace Andy Carroll, who had been allowed to leave on loan, but the Reds refused to meet Fulham’s asking price and the 29-year-old joined Tottenham Hotspur.
In an open letter to supporters, published on the club’s website, Henry said: “I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved.
“They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.”
In
Joe Allen (Swansea City), Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen), Fabio Borini (Roma), Nuri Sahin (Loan from Real Madrid), Samed Yesil (Bayer Leverkusen)
Out
Charlie Adam (Stoke City), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Fabio Aurelio (Gremio), Craig Bellamy (Cardiff City), Andy Carroll (Loan to West Ham United), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys), Jay Spearing (Loan to Bolton Wanderers)
With just Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez available to new manager Rodgers as first-team forwards, the Northern Irishman has minimum resources at his disposal before the transfer window reopens in January.
Henry insisted that the emphasis should now be on younger players. “Spending is not merely about buying talent,” said the American. “Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years.
“Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club’s traditions.
“A summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future – Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi – could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.”
While Henry argued that part of the financial issues at Anfield are due to the ownership of George Gillett and Tom Hicks, he accepted that FSG have made mistakes themselves since arriving on Merseyside.
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He added: “We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
“The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world’s great clubs to its proper status.”