Liverpool sponsors Standard Chartered want club to sign Asian star to expand market appeal

The Paisley Gateway of Anfield at Liverpool Football Club(Getty Images)

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Liverpool shirt sponsors Standard Chartered believe the acquisition of an Asian star will help boost the club’s marketability.

The international banking firm has a large client base in Asia, something which they hope to exploit further through their sponsorship of the Anfield club, who they have a four-year shirt deal with.

Speaking to reporters, head of corporate affairs for Standard Chartered Gavin Laws said: “The real power for what Liverpool could do for us, and I think for the English Premier League, is if there was a way they could nurture foreign players from Asia … a great Asian player – you see what Park Ji-Sung does for Manchester United.

“The markets in Asia and the Middle East are so nationalistic, they are very proud about their countries. One appearance from a player, say from Dubai in the Premier League, and you’d have the whole of Dubai watching it.”

Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands also noted the firm’s support for interim manager Kenny Dalglish, who has steered Liverpool to sixth place in the table since taking over the reins at Anfield following Roy Hodgson’s troubled spell at the helm.

“Kenny is doing a great job,” Sands said at the Soccerex conference in Manchester. “We think he is an iconic manager. From a sponsor’s viewpoint I have no power to make Liverpool choose Kenny as manager, but I would love him to be the manager.

“It showed from the very first moment they realised we needed a bit of the bling, a bit of the celebrity, a bit of the excitement. He Dalglish is almost a Bobby Charlton.”

Sands also commented on the possibility of Liverpool remaining at Anfield, with the prospect of a new stadium beginning to look unlikely for the Merseyside club.

“Anfield is not as developed as some other clubs and that makes it very exciting for our guests from Asia,” Sands continued.

“They love it. They love the fact that it’s… well, not exactly dirty and small because it isn’t, but because it’s a football club. We had customers from Hong Kong with us for the win over Manchester United last month.

“They couldn’t believe the noise, the atmosphere, the passion. For a corporate client on a day out for us – fantastic.”

With £35 million man Andy Carroll scoring his first goal since returning from injury this week for England in their 1-1 draw with Ghana, Sands also sent out a warning over player conduct at Liverpool, with the former Newcastle striker occasionally hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons over the past year.

“They players are young men and they play hard and party hard,” he said. “Reputationally, what is important to us is that the club has the right set of responsibilities and guidelines for their players. We will never stop some players going to excess.

“One of the issues we had to consider was what would we do if certain things happened at the football club.”

However first team boss Dalglish has moved to allay any fears the new sponsors may have about the conduct of 22-year-old Carroll, who has been told to cut down his drinking by England manager Fabio Capello.

“Andy Carroll knows what is required of Andy Carroll,” Dalglish said. “He is the most important part of all this. He cannot be criticised in any way, for what he has done since he has been here.”