Liverpool chief claims club now have 1BILLION fans worldwide and are more watched than Man Utd
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LIVERPOOL claim they now rival Manchester United with one billion fans worldwide while becoming the most watched club in the Premier League.
Old Trafford part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe boasted that the Red Devils were followed by that staggering global number as he launched plans to build a new £2billion stadium in March.
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Thousands turned up for Liverpool's trophy parade after their Premier League triumph
Credit: PA
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Liverpool historically are one of the most followed clubs in the world
Credit: ALAMY
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Liverpool's ownership of John Henry, left, and Tom Werner led the team to Premier League success
Credit: PA
But Anfield chairman Tom Werner has the figures to prove that his 'relentless' club not only finished top in the title race last season but also left their bitter rivals for dead in the TV viewing stakes as well.
He insisted: 'We are very aware of the global power of Liverpool. The club's reach around the world is by far the strongest in the Premier League.
'We're the only Premier League club to surpass 500million views on television [by March 2025 from August last season].
'Last season on social media we generated 1.7 billion engagements. That's not unique engagements, but it's still a huge number.
'Many Americans still don't appreciate the global power of football but over the next ten years I think the Premier League is going to be huge in the US.
'We think there could now be as many as a billion people around the world who follow Liverpool.
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'There is a special connection with the fans. You feel it at the games at Anfield, when they start to sing You'll Never Walk Alone. It's deep and emotional.'
Werner puts Liverpool's growing global popularity down to the way Slot's predecessor Jurgen Klopp helped the club plan for the future without him – and how the Dutchman seamlessly replaced him last summer.
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As he oversees Slot's summer spend on a re-build that has already cost £170m including £116m Florian Wirtz, Werner explained: "At the LFC Foundation Gala Ball, Jurgen was talking about how relentless the job is.
"To be fair and complimentary to Jurgen, he wanted to transition in a very orderly way and he left the club in very good shape and Arne didn't feel as though he needed to bring in three or four new players.
'What's was so special about Arne is that he's very authentic and he is not trying to be the next Jurgen Klopp, the next Pep Guardiola.
'He is his own man and he is going to approach the club in his own sincere and thoughtful way.
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Arne Slot led the team to Premier League victory last season
Credit: AFP
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Both Salah and Van Dijk have signed new deals to stay at the club
Credit: Getty
"It is an exciting time right now but we wake up every day and I keep using the word relentless.
"We want to win more trophies, we don't want to just appreciate what we have done.
'We are hungry to be more successful and what is exciting is that the league is tremendously competitive and we think it will be a challenging season."
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