Exclusive – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft reveals to talkSPORT why he decided against buying Liverpool

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has revealed to talkSPORT why he turned down the chance to buy Liverpool.

The billionaire American businessman held talks over a deal for the Premier League team in 2005 before fellow countrymen Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought the club.

Kraft, whose Patriots team won a fifth Super Bowl in 15 years on Sunday, told Jim White: "We had a chance to buy it before them [Hicks and Gillett] and I came very close to doing it.

“I want to win at everything I do and I think the way that people can spend money there without any limits or do things outside of the UK, it just would be hard to compete.

“I personally believe you don’t go into sport to make money. You go into sport to win.

“Teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or the Patriots, they bring a community together. If you could have seen 36 hours after we won the game on Tuesday in Boston, it was raining and snow drizzle and we had a million-and-a-half people come to the streets on short notice.

“There is nothing else that bonds things together like teams. People like myself that have the privilege of owning a franchise that is important to the community, we are stewards of trusteeship and we have to take it very seriously - and winning is the most important thing to me.”

Kraft also reflected on the Patriots' dramatic come-from-behind victory over Atlanta Falcons and laughed off the prospect of superstar quarterback Tom Brady calling it a day, saying: "There is as much a chance of him retiring as there is the Brexit vote being overturned!" Listen to the full interview above.