Inspired by the success of Red Bull and City Football Group, Fenway Sports Group have been exploring the multi-club system at Liverpool for several years.

Indeed, the reason that former sporting director Michael Edwards returned to the club – or, rather, to a more senior role as CEO of football at FSG last year was because of the draw of the multi-club masterplan.

Increasingly, the biggest brains in football are inspired by the idea of creating football’s equivalent of a multinational company, with outposts in lucrative commercial markets and player talent hotspots.

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Liverpool held talks with historic French side Bordeaux in the summer, but those talks collapsed. Since then, they have turned their attention to the Spanish market.

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images

With the help of a long list of appropriate targets compiled by RedBird Capital, who own AC Milan and are among the biggest minority shareholders in FSG, FSG have since narrowed their search.

Liverpool representatives are known to have held discussions – either directly or through deal brokers – with Malaga, Levante, Elche, Espanyol, Getafe and Valladolid.

Espanyol is off the table. Burnley owners ALK Capital added them to their own multi-club network...