Liverpool, the English soccer club, came close to being taken over by Robert Kraft, according to the US billionaire.

Kraft, whose family own the NFL's New England Patriots and soccer franchise New England Revolution, said concerns over the practicality of building a new stadium and the lack of a salary cap in English soccer were the only things that put him off buying the club, which has since been sold to his fellow Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks, from former chairman David Moores.

"I met with David Moores, who is a fine gentleman, and we came very close to buying it, very close," said Kraft. "I wanted to take over Liverpool. If the salary cap was there, we would have done it."

Kraft also had concerns over the stadium, saying: "I wasn't sure how we’d get a stadium built quickly and efficiently," - an instinct that appears to have been proved correct as the project has foundered.

"If the salary cap came here, I would buy a team in a minute because we think we know how to run a sports franchise," Kraft concluded. "We have stuff sent to us all the time, but I think deep down, until there was some kind of salary cap structure, I couldn't go ahead with it."