AMAIZ-ING

LIVERPOOL’S links with Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos could deliver the club to the next level.

The Reds finished fifth last season – a mammoth 25 points behind Premier League winners Arsenal.

So the news that Bezos has been approached to join forces with Amit Bhatia’s consortium and buy a minority stake in the Anfield side means they could become box-office once again.

American Bezos, 62, is estimated by Forbes magazine to boast a fortune of around £200billion, making him the world’s fourth-richest man.

And if he comes on board, Liverpool could be wrapping up more of the game’s big prizes.

SunSport revealed yesterday Andoni Iraola’s men believe they can prise France forward Bradley Barcola out of Paris Saint-Germain, even if the Champions League holders rate him at £100million.

A minority stake does not mean owners Fenway Sports Group – led by John W Henry – are about to sell up, or that Reds fans will turn up at Amazon Anfield anytime soon.

But with the kind of backing Bezos could offer, then the fee for Barcola would not prove to be a problem.

It would also be a prime opportunity for Liverpool to become permanent heavy hitters in the transfer market to bring in more of the world’s top stars.So far this summer, new boss Iraola and the club’s recruitment team, headed by sporting director Richard Hughes, have had to sit by powerless as Elliott Anderson joined Manchester City from Nottingham Forest for £116m.

This week, that record price for a British-born player was broken as Morgan Rogers moved to Chelsea from Aston Villa for £117m.

True enough, last summer an eye-watering £429m went out to bring the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike to Anfield.

But FSG had saved up for that. The previous year, only Federico Chiesa arrived, for just £10m.

And last summer’s mega-purchases were also funded by almost £200m in sales, including £60m for Luis Diaz.Liverpool’s owners, even though the club they bought in 2010 for £300m is now valued at £4.5bn, are famously careful with every penny.

The reason Michael Edwards recently quit as FSG’s CEO of football was because they decided against the plan that brought him back into the fold, which was to follow City and become multi-club owners around the world.

The failed but high-cost investment that came after the 2024-25 Prem title cost boss Arne Slot his job — and left a huge hole in the Kop coffers.

Yet the kind of money muscle that Bezos could flex would end any such financial concerns. Hence the reason that a group of investors, led by former QPR co-owner Bhatia, want him to sign up.

And why, as FSG have confirmed, they are listening to plans for a buy-in that could cost around £1.2bn. As one of the world’s richest men, that kind of cash would be a drop in the ocean.

But his interest is highly unlikely to be part of a master takeover plan, with FSG not understood to want to sell up.

Bezos’ only real motivation would be in making more money for Amazon —and he is bound to be turned on by the massive numbers of viewers that tune in to watch the Reds play.

Were he to buy in, he would not be doing so out of a sudden love for all things Scouse.

Or, as INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe did, forking out an initial £1.25bn then increasing his stake in Manchester United to 28.94 per cent, to run the football side of a club the local boy had always supported.

Bezos will not be tempted by any vanity project — only the bottom line, not sticking his bum on one of the executive seats to watch Liverpool matches. Working with the owners of baseball heavyweights the Boston Red Sox, who adopted the moneyball approach to recruitment made famous by the Oakland A’s, he just wants to recruit millions more to his company.

And Liverpool have the numbers that would guarantee he could do exactly that.

Last year, a survey showed that the club was officially the most–watched team globally, with a cumulative audience of 471 million switching on over their 38 Prem games.

They also were the most-engaged Prem club, registering 1.5 billion fan engagements, and the most-viewed on social media, with 11.9 billion hits.

Those are the kind of figures that makes the world go round for Bezos and current Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.

A sponsorship deal between Liverpool and the giant company would capture those billions and add a few more zeroes to profits, having last year reported a net income of £580bn.

There would also be a far bigger picture for Amazon Prime, who show 20 Prem games a season as part of a record £6.7bn TV rights deal, with Sky Sports screening 215 clashes and TNT 52.

That four–year package runs until 2029 and Amazon are bound to want more games next time negotiations start — indeed they could go for the lot.Bezos, were he to become a minority Liverpool investor with a seat on the board, would therefore have inside influence.

What is certain is that his entrance would be a win–win for everyone within Anfield— bringing a massive influx of cash for transfers.

While Bezos and Amazon would reap huge global benefits in marketing alongside the name of one of the world’s most iconic clubs. —Sun.