Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group withdraws from talks to buy French club Bordeaux

Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has withdrawn from talks to buy French club Bordeaux.

FSG confirmed last week that it was “in the early stages of dialogue and negotiations” over a deal with the French club and said on Tuesday that it had taken the decision to withdraw from talks “after extensive and constructive discussions with all parties involved”.

In a statement from Bordeaux on Tuesday, it said FSG had informed it “of its intention not to continue the discussions initiated in recent weeks to purchase the club.” The French side added that the decision was motivated “in particular by the significant costs of the stadium in the coming years, but also by the general economic context of French football.”

“The club and its shareholder are now putting all their energy into finalising a financing plan for the 2024-2025 season in view of the appeal hearing.”

The decision adds to the uncertainty surrounding the Ligue 2 club’s future after the Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG, the body responsible for financial oversight of French football clubs) decided to demote the club from France’s second division to the third. Bordeaux announced last week that they have appealed against this decision.

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Bordeaux was placed into receivership in 2021 when American owner King Street announced it would no longer support the club financially, and in June of the same year the club was bought by Luxembourg-Spanish businessman Gerard Lopez.

Bordeaux is one of France’s biggest clubs, having won the title six times and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2009/10, but has struggled financially in recent seasons.

The club was relegated to Ligue 2 after finishing bottom of the table in 2021/22 and has yet to return to the French top flight, having previously spent just one season outside the league between 1949 and 2022. Under former Liverpool winger Albert Riera, Bordeaux finished 12th in Ligue 2 in the 2023/24 season.

Some icons of French football, including Zinedine Zidane, Christophe Dugarry and Jean Tigana, played for Bordeaux, while current Real Madrid and French national team midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni came through their youth ranks.