Patriots owner wary of buying English club over lack of salary cap

Robert Kraft is still interested in purchasing a Premier League club, but is deterred by the lack of a salary cap in the English game.

The owner of the NFL's New England Patriots and Major League Soccer's New England Revolution held a meeting with former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry in 2005 over buying the club, but the Merseyside outfit eventually fell into the hands of fellow American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton also claimed that Kraft was offered the club before Hicks and Gillett sold to the Fenway Sports Group in 2010, but at that time Kraft "wasn't interested."

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"I like to win at whatever I do," Kraft told BBC Sport. "But without a salary cap I'm concerned that we might be at a disadvantage."

He added: "We helped found MLS in America. Our league here is starting to really develop, and with our soccer team we've gone to the championship game five times in 21 years.

"I'm just concerned in the Premier League that we might not, with all the different ways of operating, we're not as familiar with all of them."

Kraft maintains he's "still intrigued" in England's top flight, but the lack of an even playing field means a rich owner could spend a disproportional amount to clubs elsewhere in the 20-team division, making it difficult for the more frugal teams to compete.