FSG have been great owners for Liverpool. But if the Trent Alexander-Arnold contract situation is not resolved with a new deal, their position will no longer be tenable .
The American owners have been the cause of frustration at times over the years, not least with their major missteps over ticket prices and the European Super League. More generally, they have stuck steadfastly by their sustainable model, and that's meant there have been times when greater transfer investment would have been welcomed.
But by and large, FSG's record is a good one. They have invested in infrastructure with the Anfield upgrades and AXA Training Centre, they have hired leading practitioners to key positions (not least with the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager), and they have delivered Premier League and Champions League glory.
As you can tell, I'm broadly in the pro-FSG camp. I'm well aware that all of their investments have ultimately been made with an eye to increasing the value of their asset, but outside of fan ownership or sportswashing, that's unavoidable — and the relationship has generally been mutually beneficial.
However, there can be no denying that they have dropped the ball by allowing this contract crisis to unfold at Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are all a matter of months away from being allowed to negotiate free transfers abroad.
No doubt expensive contract extensions took a back seat during FSG's brief flirtation with cashing in on the club. But having decided to stay put, agreeing these new deals should have shot to the top of the to-do list.
Unfortunately, this coincided with some major churn, with Klopp leaving and a pretty much ad-hoc recruitment structure managing the transfer business after successive departures of sporting directors. But while the reasons for the delay might be understandable, they are not particularly acceptable.
If Liverpool belatedly agrees the extensions, then all will be forgiven and forgotten. But there's no doubt FSG have made the task harder than it needed to be, allowing the trio to start thinking in earnest about options beyond Anfield, and handing them all greater leverage in negotiations.
Ideally, all three will sign fresh terms. Salah and Van Dijk have been two of the best performers at the start of the Arne Slot regime, and it would be an undeniable blow to lose them.
But at least there would be some kind of sporting justification, whether or not you agree with it. The returning Michael Edwards has always been more cautious when handing deals to those over 30, and giving out two of the biggest contracts in the history of the club to players likely to decline over the course of those deals is not something to be done lightly.
With Alexander-Arnold, however, allowing a free transfer would be nothing short of gross negligence from the owners. It would be a complete breakdown of the unsteady alliance between FSG's profit motives and Liverpool's sporting ambitions.
Clearly, FSG should be doing everything in its power not to lose its most valuable asset for nothing. It would be terrible business — Alexander-Arnold is easily a $150m player, and for him to depart on a free transfer would be a sure sign that FSG have essentially been asleep at the wheel.
And from a footballing perspective, it would simply be unforgivable. It's hard to see how FSG could ever get the fans back onside after losing the Academy graduate, the generational talent who has long since seemed destined to become Liverpool captain and an all-time club legend.
It's not as though Alexander-Arnold has been flirting with a move away. If he did leave, it would be because he found himself into the final 12 months of his contract, and took the rational step of starting to think about what his other options might be: it would be squarely on FSG, no matter what spin might be placed on it.
Fortunately, this nightmare outcome can still be avoided. On commentary last night, Steve McManaman hinted that talks were "well underway" with Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah, offering hope of a happy ending.
But as the clock ticks, the nerves increase. And if they don't already, FSG must realize that this is far more than a sporting decision: this is a test of whether they are still fit to own Liverpool Football Club.
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