Fenway Sports Group is “in talks to buy” French Ligue 2 club Bordeaux, adding to its soccer portfolio that includes Premier League club Liverpool, according to Paul Joyce of the London TIMES. Financial problems at the six-time French champions “may yet scupper the interest,” but FSG’s desire to "buy a second football club for its sporting portfolio has been made clear.” FSG’s legal team have been “leading discussions” and, if an agreement can be reached with Bordeaux owner Gerard Lopez, then FSG CEO/Football Michael Edwards “will oversee the appointment of a football operations team” (London TIMES, 7/9). In Liverpool, Dave Powell writes Bordeaux is one of French soccer's "biggest clubs," but has “fallen on hard times in recent years.” The club was relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the 2021-22 season and has been “struggling financially,” with their officials set to meet with French soccer's financial watchdog, the DNCG, today in order to “satisfy them that they can provide a workable budget to enable them to compete for a full Ligue 2 season.” Sources indicated that there was "likely little desire for FSG to purchase a club that required a significant amount of work and capital to turn around,” although there is “likely to be a cheap purchase price for what has long been one of French football’s big clubs” (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 7/9).
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