Source: Telegraph
Robert Kraft turned off Liverpool bid by football's money war
On the walls of his vast office at Gillette Stadium, near Boston, the home of his New England Patriots, hang pictures of himself with Elton John, while he talks proudly of how next summer will mark his 36th consecutive visit to the Championships at Wimbledon. [LNB]But Kraft is not merely interested in English sport for its quaint annual rituals. The man who amassed a fortune from the paper industry and whose shrewd direction helped steer the Patriots to three Super Bowls in four seasons, claims to have the motivation and financial muscle to replicate that success in the Premier League specifically, with Liverpool. [LNB] Related ArticlesWhy Liverpool are in crisisLiverpool crisis, what crisis?Liverpool class of '87United could suffer if Glazers pass the BucsLondon's Super Bowl hopeNFL looks at more regular-season matches in UKThis weekend he is in London to watch his beloved 'Pats' play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley, but with one eye trained on the uncertainty paralysing Anfield. [LNB]Kraft has been linked more than once to the purchase of George Gillett's 50 per cent share of Liverpool and was keen to invest as far back as 2005, making an inquiry to buy the club before he found himself outbid by Dubai International Capital. [LNB]The landscape for a repeat approach has since shifted dramatically, mainly as a result of the Middle Eastern investment, at which he takes a thinly-veiled sideswipe. [LNB]A benefactor with a reputation for frugality the Patriots regularly come in below the NFL salary cap Kraft has no appetite to take the plunge and then be blown out of the water by Sheikh Mansour's petrodollars. [LNB]"One good thing about the NFL is that there is competitive balance and parity. Fans in every community feel they have a shot. I don't want to be in a situation where someone is spending £100 million more than I am on the payroll. I love the game of football but I like competing when it's fair. It doesn't make economic sense when people are just throwing money at it."[LNB]Liverpool fans have cause to regret Kraft's reservations, for he appears to represent a fine match for their club. Firstly, there is arguably no one to rival him for tapping into the passion of local support: when the Patriots won the first of their three NFL rings under head coach Bill Belichick in 2003, the achievement brought 1.5 million people on to the streets of Boston, a city of 600,000. [LNB]He perceives the same potential in Merseyside. He would have rewarded Kopites' fanatical loyalty, he assures, and would have cut through the interminable wrangle to fund a new stadium. [LNB]Secondly, Kraft would be able to soften relations between the Liverpool board and Rafael Benítez, the embattled manager, given Gillett's opposition to the Spaniard's control of transfer policy. On New England team matters, Kraft is known for delegating unquestioningly to Belichick. [LNB]But the alliance is never likely to come to pass, as long as Kraft sets his unfeasible condition of a spending cap. Sometimes, too, his parsimony proves unpopular. [LNB]In part, his fondness for Liverpool stems from the fact that Steve Nicol, manager of the Kraft-owned Major League Soccer franchise New England Revolution, had such a celebrated playing career there, but followers of the Revolution regularly complain about his failure to spend money. [LNB]All Liverpool supporters can hope for is that Kraft's reacquaintance with England, albeit in an NFL capacity, rekindles his obsession with the sporting culture. [LNB]"I've been to Ladies' Day at Ascot, dressed in a top hat and tails and feeling like a turkey. But I've never been to Wembley. That's the 'Mecca'; what a thrill it is to be going to an institution that is very special to the English people. [LNB]"We don't have anything in America that's a 'Mecca'. I don't think the players fully understand it, but they will when they're there."[LNB]Sky Sports shows two live NFL games every Sunday evening, including HD coverage of New England Patriots v Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 4.30pm this Sunday from Wembley. [LNB]
