NEW STAND, NEW OWNERS, NEW DEAL: KLOPP BUSY CREATING LIVERPOOL HE WANTS

ANOTHER summer, and again, the sense of change at Liverpool is tangible almost everywhere.

From Anfield, the new main stand will alter the Mersey skyline once it is completed, probably next month.

For the past 12 months, the stadium has been visible all the way down Everton Valley to the Dock Road, rising at the top of the hill from a steel carcass to machine creature.

Over at the club’s Chapel Street business headquarters, the builders and decorators are in.

The floor configuration is temporary, wires dangle from the ceiling, the old kitchen is being moved. There are expansion plans: more workstations, more people in suits wearing lanyards.

Soon enough Ian Ayre will leave his post as chief executive and although global recruitment specialists Spencer Stuart are being used to search for his replacement, there is a feeling in Fenway Sports Group that Billy Hogan, Liverpool’s commercial director of the past four years, will end up being appointed as Ayre’s successor.

Since 2014 Hogan has been based at Liverpool’s London offices.

In the meantime, Fenway are fielding takeover offers and rejecting them; two have already been made by different groups backed by arms of the Chinese government.

It is significant, however, that Fenway have more of an interest in finding a strategic investment with the right partner at this time because, ultimately, they now have a manager with a track record in delivering titles secured to the longest and most lucrative contract signed by any person in his position in the history of the club.

It cannot be ignored that the performance of Jürgen Klopp has the potential to drive the value of Liverpool into a stratosphere that exceeds the starting negotiation figures suggested by Sino-Fortone and the Sunline Group, which stand in the region of £750 million (R14.2 billion).

At best, Fenway’s reign has been either a long period of transition or an incredibly slow period of development.

His answer was to a totally different question after Liverpool’s 1-0 friendly victory over Tranmere Rovers last Friday night but as Klopp warned: “Six years in football is like 60 years.”

If Fenway were to sell Liverpool tomorrow, they would not be remembered for their sporting achievements.

Six years, indeed, has yielded just one trophy – the League Cup in 2012, and just one finish inside the Premier League’s top five.

A ruthless business environment that wasn’t there before has successfully been established, helping capitalise on the club’s worldwide support base and simultaneously increasing the number of sponsors that Liverpool have agreements with in an attempt to keep pace with competitors, which also explains why someone in influence decided to proceed with plans to sell the old wooden seats of the main stand for £200 a pop just as they were ready to be thrown into a skip.

Did anyone involved in the process remind them of the dubious PR implications, considering the relatively small profit it would generate – especially with the ticketing fiasco of February fresh in the memory?

This is a culture which causes distractions, the type Klopp will have to circumnavigate if Liverpool are to re-emerge as a consistent force.

The German has admitted that Fenway’s approach has surprised him.

Having only been appointed last October, his old deal still had two seasons to run with an option for another year.

Liverpool were keen to emphasise that the move to secure the 49-year-old was a pre-emptive decision, before there was any opportunity for speculation to gather over his future. Ultimately, the retaining of Klopp reflects two realities: that he understands Liverpool’s financial limitations when compared to the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal, and nevertheless believes it should not be used as an excuse for failure. And then, from here, bar enforcing the wage structure that would instantly see him compete financially with those he aspires to be ahead of, Klopp’s new deal means that he can do pretty much as he likes to take Liverpool forward.

Each of Liverpool’s four summer signings so far have been at his discretion or encouraged first by people he trusts, instead of the club’s transfer committee.

Though he might choose to abandon the pursuit of Leicester’s inexperienced Ben Chilwell, the left back first came to his attention through the recommendation of Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner after he spent time on loan in west Yorkshire last season. Wagner worked with Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.

The future of Liverpool’s academy will also need to be assessed.

It is a place that, like the rest of the club, has witnessed much change in personnel since 2014 when Fenway deployed a head of business in an attempt to make it function with greater financial independence.

Now, Klopp is suggesting that Kirkby and Melwood might need to be brought closer together, with an annexing of sites possible.

Maybe it is true: the more things change, the more they stay the same.