Watzke told The Guardian that English clubs were too under the control of billionaires with little connection to the clubs.

"I am a little bit romantic, and that is not romantic. In England people seem not to be interested in this – at Liverpool they are fine for the club to belong to an American. But the German is romantic: when there is a club, he wants to have the feeling it is my club, not the club of Qatar or Abu Dhabi," said Watzke.