AMERICAN billionaire Robert Kraft has admitted he would buy Liverpool Football Club “in a minute” – but only if a salary cap was placed on the English Premier League.

The US businessman also claimed that he came “very close” to buying Liverpool in 2005, but was ultimately put off by the absence of a cap on players’ wages.

Kraft, whose family own the NFL’s New England Patriots and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, also had concerns about the need for a new stadium but said that would not have stopped him from going ahead with the deal.

Kraft is on the USA’s top 300 rich list. He owns mills, manufactures and distributes paper and packages products in 80 countries.

He says he is fond of Liverpool, noting that the Revolution’s coach,

Steve Nicol, used to play there and praised the club’s fans for their loyalty and passion.

He added, however, that they were not the only club he would consider investing in if a cap were in place.

“I wanted to take over Liverpool,” said Kraft. “I met with [the then chairman] David Moores, who is a fine gentleman, and we came very close to buying it, very close.

“But in the end my instinct was – without a salary cap, or a stadium... I wasn’t sure how we’d get a stadium built quickly and efficiently.