MARCH 24
Gillett denies Reds sale

By Alex Livie - Setanta Sports

George Gillett Jr. has confirmed he is assessing his options, but stressed no decision has been made on whether he will sell his stake in Liverpool.

Gillett, who owns 50 percent of The Reds, has appointed financial advisors in Canada, United States and Europe to assess his options.

The American is a majority shareholder in Montreal Canadiens, along with a number of other businesses, and it is being claimed either his share in the NHL club or Liverpool will be sold.

"We have appointed advisers in different countries to assess our assets,'' Gillett said on Tuesday.

"We have engaged professionals who are doing some estate planning, it has nothing to do with any decisions to sell any assets.

"We may do some recapitalization, but any links between what we are doing and the situation at Liverpool is incorrect. We have made no decision to sell.''

Gillett and his fellow owner Tom Hicks took out £350 million worth of debt to buy Liverpool and it needs to be refinanced in the near future.

MARCH 23
Gillett considers franchise sale

By Ian Parker - PA Sport

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett is reportedly considering selling the famous Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise as he undertakes a review of his assets.

The news, reported on Monday by Montreal-based newspaper La Presse, is likely to re-open speculation about Gillett's long-term commitment to Liverpool, which he co-owns with fellow American Tom Hicks.

According to the report, Gillett has called in financial advisors to take stock of his assets, and is considering anything from a restructuring of his interests to a sell-off.

"The process has been started but we're only at the beginning," Canadiens team president Pierre Boivin told La Presse.

"We're not hiding it; we're going through a very difficult economic period."

Gillett also owns the Canadiens' home arena, the Bell Centre, and a NASCAR team.

He and Hicks bought Liverpool in February 2007 with ambitious plans to build a new stadium.

Since then, the credit crunch has put the stadium on hold, while the two owners engaged in a very public spat before recently claiming their relationship has been repaired.

Last week, Hicks reiterated his commitment to Liverpool for the long term, insisting his share in the team is not for sale, but little has been heard from Gillett.

According to the most recent rankings in American business magazine Forbes, the Canadiens franchise is valued at US 334 million (£230 million).

MARCH 19
Hicks looks to the long term

TEAMtalk

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks expects to be at Anfield just as long as manager Rafael Benitez.

The Spaniard has signed a new five-year contract to tie him to the club until 2014 and Hicks is adamant he will still be in control at the club when that contract comes to an end.

Hicks and co-owner George Gillett must re-finance £300million-plus of loans in July to maintain their control of Anfield, but the implication to Hicks' words is that he expects to be able to find the finance to do just that.

That may well mean taking on another partner - probably Middle-Eastern - to replace Gillett, who is known to want to sell his stake.

But Hicks even suggested that Gillett wants to stick around.

"Rafa is going to be here for the next five years, I know I am going to be here for the next five years," Hicks told Sky Sports News.

"And George, I think, will be here for the next five years although I cannot speak for him. But we want to be here when the new stadium is open because we want to build that sucker.

"The financial markets shut down (before Christmas) and we could not get the funds. But they will open again and we will get the money.

"I cannot predict the capital markets, but the stadium is very much something we plan to do. It is not being mothballed, it is going to happen."

The Americans need another £400million to even restart building the new stadium in Stanley Park. Work there stopped some months ago and there is no date for building to resume.

Hicks may look to take on another partner who will have the money to build the stadium.

On the completion of negotiations with Benitez, Hicks said he had "never worried" about the Spaniard's long-term future at the club.

Internal politics had led to doubts about the former Valencia boss' position at the club but Hicks believes there was never a real possibility of him leaving.

He added: "These things are complicated. A five-year contract is complicated, so I'm just relieved we finally got it done.

"From the supporters' point of view, to have it done on top of such a great week on the pitch is great."

Hicks played down long-running reports that the delay was down to a power struggle - and in particular disagreement over transfer policy.

He said: "That was never really true. I sat down with Rafa a couple of months ago and he made it very clear that he knows a manager can't have control over transfer budget.

"He has had his frustrations over the last five years and those are well chronicled but he will make the recommendations about which players we sign and the new chief executive, the owners and the board will make the final financial commitment. And that is the way it needs to be."

The American is also happy with the Reds' improvement in the Premier League and added: "We have a chance to catch Manchester United. It's not a great chance, but it's a chance."

Hicks also confirmed that the club were interviewing head-hunting firms to begin the process of replacing Rick Parry, the chief executive who will quit at the end of the season.

He said: "We only have one chance to get this right, and it may take six months, nine months."

MARCH 18
Liverpool's elusive
'Man in the Sand'

By Mihir Bose - BBC sports editor

Buying a football club does not normally involve the person doing the deal being the subject of an extraordinary vetting process, the potential owner being given a fanciful undercover name, and the whole thing ending up in the Royal Courts of Justice.

But Rafed Al Khorafi's attempt to buy Liverpool last summer, which came within hours of being concluded, involved all of that and more. I have discovered fascinating details which read like a thriller which Bollywood, let alone Hollywood, might find a shade too implausible.

The court case which City firm Seymour Pierce brought against Al Khorafi, a member of the powerful and clan-like Kuwati family, now looks like being settled. Investment bankers Seymour Pierce were responsible for advising the Kuwaiti on his proposed purchase of Liverpool and claimed various fees had not been paid. Khorafi's lawyers have now agreed to pay some of them but are, I understand, asking for more time to come up with the cash.

Yet the real colour to this story lies in the lengths Seymour Pierce's Keith Harris, who also doubles as the great wheeler-dealer of English football, had to go to in trying to negotiate the deal. After being vetted prior to his meeting with Al Khorafi, he had to travel to a hotel in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, where, for a time, he was the only guest.

That's because Khorafi, whose long love affair with Liverpool was nurtured in the club's heydays of the 1980s, was very keen the negotiations should remain a closely guarded secret. To help achieve that goal, he was given the moniker 'The Man in the Sand' by Harris, while Liverpool were identified as 'The Target'.

The initial Khorafi approach came in February 2008, a time when the world had not yet slipped into recession and numerous buyers were hovering around England's top football clubs. But there was a problem, namely the testy relationship between Liverpool's two American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They had become the ultimate dysfunctional family, barely on speaking terms. Such was the tension between the two, that in the spring of 2008, Hicks, who had tried to buy out Gillett, demanded the resignation of chief executive Rick Parry only for Gillett to defend him.

Sometime in March, a meeting between Gillett, Hicks and Harris was arranged in Montreal. Given their relationship, Hicks and Gillett felt they could only meet under the auspices of the commissioner of the National Hockey League, who acted as a sort of referee. Both men own hockey franchises.

At this stage, 'The Man in the Sand' had yet to meet either of the Americans. His cover remained intact, helped no doubt by the fact that the media's focus was on the more romantic story of how Dubai Investment Capital, which had nearly bought Liverpool in 2007, was mounting another bid for the club.

Khorafi eventually became a human face to Gillett and his son Foster when they met at Harris's Chelsea home. At various stages, Khorafi was accompanied by Ahmad Al Omani, whose card described him as vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Qatar Consulting Company.

By then, lawyers for both parties were busy. Gillett supplied the shareholder agreement he had with Hicks as well as the credit agreement in respect of refinancing Liverpool had negotiated in January 2008. Gillett also provided details of salaries and management accounts, while Hicks supplied Liverpool's detailed 10-year financial forecast. Much of this is fairly standard information any buyer would need before committing himself.

All this helped Khorafi work out his price. He would pay £300m for the equity with an additional £100m depending on Liverpool's financial performance and make the club debt free - it is worth noting that when Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool it had debts of £44.8m, but they had grown to £280m.

For Hicks and Gillett, the deal would mean a nice profit. They had paid £174.1m for their equity when they bought the Merseyside club in February 2007. It would also mean Gillett and Hicks would be released from their personal guarantees of around £190m.

It was critical for Liverpool to do the deal before the summer transfer window closed. By the first week of July, everything was ready. But then, two hours before the deal was due to be signed, Khorafi changed his mind, said he did not want to do a deal until September and walked away. No explanation was forthcoming and after that, it became impossible for Harris to contact Khorafi, eventually forcing him to seek the help of lawyers.

The postscript to this is that news of Khorafi's attempts to buy Liverpool finally emerged into the public arena last autumn. It prompted a statement of denial from the Al Khorafi group, although it came not from Rafed but from relative Jassem Al Khorafi, the speaker of the Kuwati parliament, and Jassem's elder brother Nasser, the group's top man. Rafed said nothing and it now looks like the classic non-denial denial.

When I rang Rafed Khorafi's lawyers, a spokesman said: "On behalf of our client we are going to decline to comment". When I asked if it would be possible to meet Rafed, I was told "we have tried that", the implication being it was a futile exercise.

'The Man in the Sand' had vanished and, but for the court case, would have left no footprints. Liverpool, riding high on the field, still await a buyer off it.

MARCH 8
Potential Reds
takeover hits snag

TEAMtalk

A possible takeover of Liverpool led by the wealthy Al-Kharafi family has hit problems after a difference of opinions amongst the Kuwaitis.

Differences have appeared among the original consortium and one of the members, the Al-Sager family, say they will now continue with talks separately about buying by a percentage of Liverpool.

The latest development will cause some uncertainty for Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who had hoped that Nasser Al-Kharafi - ranked the 52nd richest person in the world - would bankroll a takeover.

Hopes now appear to rest with the Al-Sagers putting together a new consortium of investors.

Abdulla Al-Sager said he is representing his family in the talks and will meet Hicks "within the next two weeks" to discuss buying a stake in the club.

Al-Sager said the Al-Kharafis would not be part of the talks, but that if his family did become stakeholders they would push through the delayed Stanley Park stadium.

He told Bloomberg: "They are willing to negotiate and we are negotiating and will continue to do so in the weeks to come.

"We want to build the new stadium in Stanley Park and make the team do really well."

Al-Sager said last week, when he was representing the consortium including the Al-Kharafis, that the £500million price tag put on the club was "too high".

MARCH 5
Kuwaitis baulk at asking price

Daily Post

Liverpool’s owners have suffered a blow in their efforts to sell the club to a Kuwaiti investment consortium.

A spokesman for the consortium says the £500million value put on the club by American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett is too high and that negotiations are "going really badly".

Abdulla Al-Sager, one of the possible investors in the consortium headed by Kuwait’s Al-Kharafi family, told Bloomberg: "Things are going really badly, because they are asking for too much.

"I don’t think anything will happen unless we get a better price."

The consortium are now likely to play a waiting game until July when Hicks and Gillett have to see if they can refinance Liverpool’s £300million debts.

If they cannot, then they may be forced to sell for a much lower price.

Liverpool have also been in talks about a sale with another investment group in the Middle East and one in the US. It is understood Hicks would ideally like to find an investment partner to buy Gillett’s stake and allow him to remain in control.

FEBRUARY 28
How Rick Parry walked alone after
relationship with Rafael Benitez fell apart

By Rory Smith - The Daily Telegraph

The seeds of Rick Parry's demise were sown long before Tom Hicks and George Gillett had heard of Anfield or Rafa Benitez cast his eye over Gareth Barry. Instead, the Liverpool chief executive was a marked man from the moment one million Liverpool fans who thronged the city to celebrate the miracle of Istanbul started to disperse.

In the immediate aftermath of that remarkable night, the club's captain and heartbeat, Steven Gerrard, declared he would reject Chelsea's overtures but Parry prevaricated over a new deal. Benitez came within a whisker of losing the man central to his plans to make Liverpool great again.

Interference from those above him is a subject close to the Spaniard's heart. His clashes with Jesus Garcia Pitarch, the sporting director he could not work with at Valencia, have made him suspicious of the efficacy of those above him, of their intentions and agendas.

From the moment Parry almost lost Gerrard, Benitez was on alert, waiting, watching. By the end of the summer of 2005, Parry's failure to agree a payment schedule with Benfica over the £10 million transfer of Simao Sabrosa had cost Benitez his main transfer target with the player's medical completed. The manager was furious. A year later, Parry could not seal an £8 million deal to sign Daniel Alves, the Sevilla full-back.

Benitez knew Liverpool were not cash-rich when he joined from Valencia but, in the days before the club's current custodians arrived with pockets full of credit notes, it was less Liverpool's financial power than Parry's inability to close a deal which concerned the Spaniard.

The manager who complained at the Mestalla that Garcia Pitarch bought him a lamp when he asked for a table found himself at a club where they knew what furniture to buy but could not remember their pin number.

When Parry and Moores, in return for a substantial bonus payment and guarantees over their own futures, sold the club to Tom Hicks and George Gillett in February 2007, money was not supposed to be an issue. That, of course, proved to be a false dawn. After that year's Champions League final, Benitez complained the club had to back him in the transfer market if they were to remain at the top of the European game.

Hicks and Gillett responded, signing Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel for a combined fee of up to £40 million, but it did not take long for the cracks to appear. In November that year, Benitez, furious the club's owners would not give him a concrete response to his detailed plans for the forthcoming January transfer window, revealed in a stormy press conference he had been told to concentrate solely on coaching his current squad.

Behind the scenes, the club was in chaos. Benitez had threatened to leave for one of his long-time Italian suitors, including Inter Milan, if he was not given the requisite funds. In the tumult, Parry helped set up a meeting at Jurgen Klinsmann's California home, which he, Hicks and Gillett attended.

The German was offered Benitez's job should the Spaniard quit. When details of the meeting became public the following April – contradicting Parry's earlier statement that he had known nothing of it – Benitez knew the situation could not continue.

Sources inside Anfield suggest it was at that stage that the manager's relationship with Parry broke down irretrievably. That led to a clear division within the fractured power structure at the club. Hicks and Benitez became allies as the Texan, himself unimpressed by Parry's commercial performance, tried to oust the chief executive, who was saved only by Gillett.

By the time of last summer's Gareth Barry debacle, yet another transfer failure from Parry, the die was almost cast. Hicks spoke in April of Parry as a "disaster" for allowing Liverpool's famous name to fall behind Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in terms of sponsorship, merchandising and brand value.

Parry, believing the club could be sold in the summer, clung on, believing he could survive as both Hicks and Gillett fell. As Benitez's contract negotiations started last year, it became obvious Hicks was going nowhere, actively seeking new investment to replace Gillett. The reality that Gillett would leave the club, leaving Parry a sitting duck, slowly dawned.

FEBRUARY 27
Liverpool, the club of
lame ducks and half measures

By James Ducker - Times Online

It says everything about the indecision that has permeated Liverpool’s core since the arrival of Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr two years ago that, even when taking action yesterday by announcing the impending departure of Rick Parry, the owners stopped short of going the whole nine yards by vowing to keep the chief executive on until the end of the season.

Half measures are what Liverpool have become good at, but as Hicks and Rafael Benítez, the manager, paid tributes to Parry that could not have sounded less sincere, it was hard to understand even by the Merseyside club’s recent standards why a clean break had not been made. Instead, Liverpool are left with a chief executive who has been rendered a lame duck.

Hicks claimed in a statement that Parry will “always remain a friend of the football club”, although not to him, you would imagine. Hicks, after all, branded Parry as “arrogant” and having an “inability to manage an organisation” in April last year before demanding his removal from office, a request that the chief executive branded as “offensive”.

At that time, Liverpool had become a byword for backbiting and infighting, whereas now the club simply sit in a state of inertia.

Parry’s impending departure is seen as a step forward in some quarters, but the reality is that until Hicks and Gillett can start to offer some concrete assurances about the future ownership of the club, the clock will continue to tick down to the June 25 deadline for the repayment of their £350 million refinancing package and, in all probability, Benítez’s future will remain a source of uncertainty.

It is understood that, despite Hicks bowing to Benítez’s demands for greater control of transfer policy and the youth system, as well as agreeing to give the manager a pay rise to £4 million a year, the Spaniard wants to know who will be in complete control of the club, a question no one is able to answer with any conviction at the moment.

Hicks has built up a strong power base over the past six months, epitomised by his newfound alliance with Benítez, but, to his frustration, he has been unable to find the funds to buy out Gillett’s 50 per cent stake. Gillett has previously been opposed to selling to his estranged business partner, but given the pressure that he is under to refinance the additional £40 million he borrowed to provide a personal guarantee concerning the refinancing package — a condition of the deal being struck — he would probably take Hicks’s money and run if there was an offer on the table.

The alternative is for Gillett, under the terms of his takeover agreement with Hicks, to sell 2 per cent of his share to Hicks, although there would then be the danger of Gillett being unable to shift the remaining 48 per cent.

Given that would-be investors from Dubai and Kuwait want total control at Anfield, the situation would remain at an impasse.

In the meantime, Hicks will begin his search for a successor to Parry and leave Benítez and the present chief executive to muddle along until then.

Next in line: the candidates to replace Parry

Ian Ayre (Liverpool commercial director)

Worked tirelessly to bring Liverpool’s commercial operation up to scratch. A safe pair of hands, experienced football administrator.

Philip Nash (Liverpool finance director)

Close ally of Tom Hicks who might be happy to defer to Rafael Benítez. Familiar with workings of club, sound financial sense.

Keith Edelman (Managing director of Arsenal between 2000 and 2008)

Sound financial, business and commercial acumen and a central figure in Arsenal’s move to Emirates Stadium, securing a £90 million naming rights and sponsorship package in the process. Experience of working for a Champions League club.

Alistair Mackintosh (Fulham chief executive formerly with Manchester City)

Oversaw City’s move to a new stadium, experience of three ownership changes at the club, shrewd transfer negotiator.

Brian Barwick (FA chief executive until December last year)

Liverpool supporter, commercially savvy, respected in football’s upper echelons, experience of working with a demanding manager in Fabio Capello.

FEBRUARY 27
Benitez: Parry exit
nothing to do with me

By Ben Blackmore - Setanta Sports

Rafa Benitez revealed on Friday that talks over a new contract are still ongoing, despite confirmation that Ricky Parry will leave the club.

Liverpool confirmed on Friday that chief executive Parry will leave at the end of the season, as co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett try to take the club forward.

The decision will inevitably by viewed as a triumph for Benitez, who is angling for total control over transfers, but the Liverpool admitted he is still to agree a new deal with the Anfield club.

“In the last interview I spoke of the contact between the owners and my advisers and still they have to talk,” stated the Spaniard.

“We still have to talk, my advisers and the owners still have to talk.”

Parry’s exit from the club is just yet another off-field headline created by Liverpool this season, but Benitez is adamant it will not affect their stuttering title challenge.

He also distanced himself from any role in Parry’s departure, insisting the decision was based on his relationship with the owners.

“I think it’s a decision between the owners and Rick Parry, he will stay here until the end of the season so we will all work together in the best interests of the club. After this, we will wish him all the best.

“I like to concentrate on football. I don’t think it will be a problem to work with Rick for the rest of the season, we all want the best for the club.

“We haven’t had time to get distracted by these things, we’ve just arrived this morning from Madrid. OK we heard the news but we’ve just been deciding on the squad – who’s fit to play. That’s the things I can control. I will say again I am just thinking about football operations, this is between the owners and Rick Parry.”

FEBRUARY 27
Liverpool confirm
Parry's imminent departure

By Ben Blackmore - Setanta Sports

Liverpool Football Club have officially announced on Friday that Rick Parry will leave the club at the end of the season.

Parry leaves by mutual consent, having given 12 years of service to the club.

The Liverpool chief executive has long suffered a turbulent relationship with the club’s American owners, and it is understood that his relationship with Tom Hicks is the main reason behind his exit.

Hicks has previously stated his dissatisfaction with Parry’s handling of club affairs, yet he paid tribute to the outgoing chief exec on Friday.

"Rick's commitment to Liverpool Football Club is epitomised by his desire to ensure that this transitional period is managed efficiently and we are grateful to him for his help," Hicks told Liverpool's official website. "He will always remain a friend of the football club."

Fellow co-owner George Gillett added: "I would like to thank Rick for his significant service to the club and the assistance he has given us since we joined Liverpool. He has been integral to the club's success over the past decade and leaves with our best wishes for the future."

Rafa Benitez has often shown his frustration at Liverpool’s lack of urgency in the transfer market under Parry's stewardship, but The Liverpool Echo makes a point of insisting that Parry’s departure is not down to Benitez, nor his contractual demands.

Parry stated: "I have had 12 very exciting years at Liverpool and am extremely proud of what has been achieved by the club over that period. The victory in Madrid was a wonderful reminder of the many high points we have experienced and adds to the moments that make Liverpool and its magnificent fans so special.

"It has been a privilege to serve the club and, as a lifelong supporter, I wish the owners, Rafa, the players and the wonderful staff all the very best for the future. I will be leaving at the end of the season knowing that the club remains strong and with a set of supporters who deserve success in all that Liverpool does."

FEBRUARY 2
Gillett: "Why are Liverpool FC
fans so angry with me?"

By Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Liverpool FC co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks endured a torrid day on Merseyside as they ran the gauntlet of protesting fans.

The Americans were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling against them when supporters staged a demonstration at Anfield following the Reds’ 2-0 win over Chelsea.

Around 300 fans gathered outside the directors’ entrance, chanting for Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett to sell the club they bought from former owner David Moores two years ago this month.

The protest was entirely peaceful but noisy and the chants could be heard inside the stadium long after the final whistle had been blown on Liverpool’s victory.

Throughout the match, a group of fans in the paddock, right in front of where Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett were sitting in the directors box, displayed a banner which read “Thanks but no Yanks”.

Earlier in the day, members of the Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) fans’ group converged on the Crowne Plaza hotel at the Pier Head where Gillett was staying.

Mr Gillett, who had earlier declined an opportunity to be interviewed by the ECHO, was clearly unprepared for their arrival as a number of supporters got past hotel security to confront him.

But after quickly recovering his composure, the Colorado-based businessman agreed to speak with to SOS spokesman Jay McKenna in the hotel foyer.

The demonstrators were well-behaved and well-organised throughout, although police did arrive on the scene to ensure hotel guests could come and go unhindered.

Mr McKenna emerged from his impromptu meeting with Mr Gillett to inform those gathered outside of what he was just told.

Mr McKenna said: “I told him all the fans who were outside and thousands more were angry and upset at how he and Tom Hicks were running the club.

“He looked shocked and asked me why. I told him he knew why, because he met Spirit Of Shankly before the Manchester United game.

“I said ‘fans see it as you have made three promises and broken them’. So he asked me what they were.

“The first one was the debt on the football club. I told him his partner Tom Hicks promised it would not be like the Glazer takeover at Manchester United, and to fans that meant no debt on the club.

“He claimed to be unaware and asked what I meant. I told him they had bought the club and then placed the debt for buying the club onto the club.

“He claimed this was at the ‘request of the banks’ and they were in a ‘sound financial position’ with ‘revenue per pound or dollar in ratio to the debt’ better than at any other football club.

“When I asked about the extension to July, he claimed that was false and no-one else knew the true details because they were kept confidential.

“The second one was backing the manager and then not doing so. I said they said they would back the manager, so why had they approached Jurgen Klinsmann about the position of manager?

“He then went onto claim they had met with the manager, who told them he was to have discussions with ‘three other teams’ about joining them and they approached Klinsmann to have him in place to work as a ‘consultant at the club’ if Benitez left them.

“I asked why they had approached Klinsmann, because his pedigree was not one that immediately made fans sit up and take note.

“He claimed Klinsmann had a brilliant track record, and he had excellent marketing talent, having close links with those at Adidas, Nike and Reebok and the benefits of him being at Liverpool.

“I asked who the three clubs were, but he refused to answer.

“The third one was the stadium. I told Gillett the situation with the stadium angered fans, because Gillett himself had promised a spade in the ground in 60 days, and it still had not happened.

“He denied making this claim and said it was a ‘made-up quote by the media’and he would be interested to see such a quote.

“I asked why work on the stadium dragged on before they finally blamed the credit crunch for it not happening.

“He claimed they had spent £100m on the stadium so far and were still working with designers, architects and planners.

“I asked why they were spending the club’s money on this and he claimed it was coming from himself and Tom Hicks and not the club.

“I asked if the club’s accounts would show and support this when they are released, and he said yes. “Gillett then claimed all transfer fees to date had been met by himself and Tom.

“He said when they bought the club, they were told about the ‘Liverpool Way’.

“I asked if he felt they had been true custodians as they promised. Gillett told me he ‘had tried, but it had been difficult’ and they had ‘done what they could’.

“I asked why he could not speak for Hicks because he was his partner.

“He said that ‘husband and wife can say different things but one does not get the blame’.

“I explained they were both responsible, and he was not happy at being blamed.

“I asked why he was in partnership with Hicks. He said Hicks and himself had worked together well for six years in other businesses such as food, but this is different because the media are involved.

“I asked, would he or Tom Hicks, or both, be selling their stakes in Liverpool. “Again, he told me he cannot speak for Tom Hicks. I asked, had there been any offers for the club, and were they currently meeting anyone about it?

He told me: ‘Yes, there have been expressions of interest and some negotiation’.

“I asked who with, and he told me he could not tell me that. I asked would he sell, and he admitted he was ‘open to it’, but he could not speak for Hicks.

“I then went to walk away, and he came after me saying, ‘A few weeks ago, we were in first position, then a certain individual from the club attacked another individual from another club, and, since then, we have lost form and slid down the league.’

“I was stunned, and asked if he was blaming Benitez as a result, and in saying that, was he not backing the manager?

“Rather than confirm or deny as I expected, he replied ‘that’s your implication’, before I walked away and back outside to the real world.”

JANUARY 26
No sign of an end to
Liverpool FC civil warfare

Comment by Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Anyone expecting a swift and merciful end to the ongoing battle for the soul of Liverpool Football Club has clearly not been paying too much attention over the last two painful years.

Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser al Kharafi is the latest potential suitor to come to the Anfield table, have a look at the deal on offer and walk away.

Like both Dubai International Capital and the emirate of Dubai itself before him, Kharafi has found the investment "opportunity" not to his liking.

Given the fact that the asking price for a partial or total stake in the club is not in keeping with its actual value it is little surprise that hardened businessmen don't want a piece of the action, especially with Tom Hicks looking to remain on the scene and carry on calling at least some of the shots.

One city source told the ECHO that he was stunned that any potential investor would be willing to enter into a dialogue about the possibility of buying Liverpool at this time and was bemused by al Kharafi's emergence onto the scene.

"With any business deal of this magnitude you have to ask yourself one very simple question – is the commodity on offer worth the price that is being sought," he said.

"Remember that an asking price does not always reflect market value.

"In the case of Liverpool Football Club, the asking price will inevitably fall in the months to come so why would anyone buy it now?"

It is simple economics which makes this the case. Hicks and his warring co-owner George Gillett have until July to either find a new refinancing deal or to pay back the £350m debt they owe the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In the current financial climate there is precious little chance of either happening and the longer the owners go without being able to do so the more likely they are to be dragged kicking and screaming into a buyers market.

It is all a long way from a little over a year ago when Hicks and Gillett were in the box seat and confident enough in their position to be able to tell a bidder with the massive wealth of Dubai that even an offer in the region of £500m was not enough for Sheikh Mohammed to get his hands on the keys to Anfield.

There was even a suggestion at one point of a member of Hicks' negotiating team informing a representative of Dubai that the asking price was actually £1bn.

When asked why he thought Dubai would be willing to pay almost five times what Hicks and Gillett had bought the club for just a year earlier the representative replied: "Because you are Father Christmas".

Whether this anecdote is an accurate portrayal of what occurred it does serve as an allegory to a time when Hicks in particular thought he was in a position to make such demands.

That was pre-credit crunch though and the world is an altogether different place since billions upon billions of pounds were wiped off the value of global stock markets – and a crisis of confidence in the banking sector brought the usual lending and borrowing practices almost to a standstill.

The source added: "Look, even Man United are having difficulties in recent months.

"Back in September they were confident that the crisis in the financial world would not affect their lucrative sponsorship deal with AIG even though AIG were in serious trouble.

"Last week AIG pulled the plug and now United are facing up to the prospect of having to find a sponsor in a climate which is nowhere near as healthy as the one in which they did their last deal.

"Everyone is retrenching and the football industry will have to cut its cloth accordingly like everyone else.

"If Hicks and Gillett were not already aware of this then they will be now.

"The situation for them is clear. If they are to make the kind of money they had hoped to from their acquisition of Liverpool then they must build the new stadium.

"But this is probably impossible now that lending has all but dried up and they will have enough trouble refinancing their current outstanding loans, never mind taking out new ones.

"Realistically, an exit strategy is their only way forward and this has been the case for some time.

"They will be hoping that a deal can be done in the very near future because with every day that passes and the closer they get to the date when they must refinance, the lower their asking price will have to become."

Friday's leaking of al Kharafi's interest was the latest salvo in a PR battle which has been out of control for more than a year.

Indications are that the story which appeared in almost every single national newspaper emerged from London and outraged al Kharafi who had demanded that any business be done in private.

Sources in Kuwait have told the ECHO that the moment news leaked any potential deal was dead in the water and stressed that the plug would have been pulled on Friday had it not been a holy day in the Muslim faith.

The motives for the leak are as yet unclear although one theory is that it was a thinly veiled attempt to try and generate interest by someone in one or other of the American owners camps.

It will certainly not have been a co-ordinated move though as despite claims that Hicks and Gillett are working hand in hand, their mutual antipathy is as strong as ever.

Also, the withdrawal of interest from Kuwait should not be seen as a takeover collapse. No deal was imminent and no price had been agreed.

Al Kharafi tested the water and like others before him found the temperature not to his liking.

But one thing is for sure, Liverpool's parlous ownership situation is not likely to improve in the months to come.

If anything, things are only going to get worse as the clock ticks down to the July D-day for refinancing and the potential for the current owners to make vast profits diminishes with every passing hour.

The past two years have been disastrous for Liverpool FC but the next six months are set up for matters to deteriorate still further.

With hundreds of millions of pounds at stake, a bitterly divided boardroom and no apparent saviour at the Shankly gates, an already bumpy ride is only likely to become even more hazardous for Liverpool and its long suffering fans.

JANUARY 25
Ruler of Dubai
eyes Liverpool again

The Guardian

Dubai interests may again emerge as the main players in the battle to buy Liverpool. Speculation is growing in the Middle East that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, thought to have lost interest in the club last year as the credit crunch started to bite, may be preparing another move.

But if that does happen, it will only occur next summer, as sources close to the Sheikh argue that the price of the club is likely to keep dropping as the moment when loans with troubled Royal Bank of Scotland have to be renegotiated draws nearer.

Sheikh Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai and founder of Dubai International Capital, which was involved in lengthy and unsuccessful negotiations to buy the club last year.

The Sheikh then took on the potential takeover personally, but opted to pull out several months ago. However, with the intense rivalry between the Arab states over ownership of Premier League clubs, the Sheikh is again believed to be reviewing the situation.

It emerged last week that a Kuwaiti group, the oil-rich al-Kharafi family, were involved in talks – initially with Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks – over a potential buyout, plus the £400m financing of the club's proposed new stadium.

But the £600m asking price was considered too high and, following the amount of publicity the offer generated, it is now believed the consortium leader, Nasser Kharafi, has pulled out of negotiations.

A source close to the Middle East groups said: "The price was too high and the Kuwaitis were annoyed that their interest was leaked. Surely in the current climate, and with time running out on the Americans who must repay or re-finance their loan in July, nobody is going to buy Liverpool at this present time.

"The price drops with every passing day, and any prospective buyer would now wait until the summer before making a move. By then, the Americans would have to accept a much lower price – around £400m or lower."

That applies if the Americans fail to renegotiate their current deal, although there have been suggestions they still have hopes of achieving that. RBS was prepared to give them a six-month extension on that loan. But that was an existing deal, and they are highly unlikely to take on a new agreement with the Americans.

The source said: "With the government now having majority control of RBS, it would seem unlikely that Liverpool would be allowed a huge new loan while other businesses around the country are not."

Talks involving Liverpool's finance director, Philip Nash, and the commercial director Ian Ayre – along with high-level Hicks negotiators from Dallas – were held last week in London and the Middle East with the Kuwaitis.

But the £600m price was a sticking point, as were attempts by Hicks to continue as a minority shareholder. That looks to have brought him back into conflict with fellow owner George Gillett, who wants both Americans to leave on the same terms.

Reports of internal friction at Anfield have surfaced again, with the manager Rafael Benítez and the chief executive Rick Parry seemingly supporting different factions.

Last season it was Hicks who blocked the bid from DIC that was supported by Gillett – and now the co-owners appear to be at loggerheads again.

They will both be at next Sunday's home game against Chelsea, Hicks arriving a few days earlier in the hope of breaking the impasse over Benítez's new contract. Sheikh Maktoum and his Dubai associates, meanwhile, are watching and waiting.

JANUARY 23
Kuwaiti group denies Reds reports

BBC Sport Online

A Kuwaiti business group has denied reports it is in talks with the owners of Liverpool over a possible takeover.

Reds co-owner Tom Hicks had reportedly been in talks with Kuwait billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi, who has an estimated £9bn fortune.

But Kharafi Group vice-president Loay Al-Kharafi has insisted no talks were held and the reports were incorrect.

Reports on Merseyside have suggested a prominent European businessman has also expressed an interest in Liverpool.

The reign of Hicks and his co-owner George Gillett, who value the club at around £550m, has been dogged by controversy since their £218m takeover in February 2007.

BBC Sport understands that even though the relationship between Hicks and Gillett has been troubled, they may be united in their desire to sell at the right price.

And they are clearly on the look-out for new investors at the very least, even if Hicks stands by his intention of retaining a stake in the club.

The pair have appointed rival banks to try and find potential buyers, Merrill Lynch are on board with Hicks and Rothschilds with Gillett.

Their regime has become deeply unpopular among fans after early optimism, and the US tycoons have just been given an extra six months to repay a £350m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.

Manager Rafael Benitez had public differences with the owners, who admitted they met former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann when doubts emerged over his future.

Hicks also demanded the resignation of chief executive Rick Parry last season after labelling his time in charge "a disaster".

The pair's plans for a new stadium have also stalled after spiralling costs meant it would cost around £450m rather than the original estimate of £300m.

Benitez is currently locked in a contract wrangle with the Anfield hierarchy as he demands greater control over transfers at the club.

JANUARY 23
Why Liverpool FC
owners want a takeover

By Paul Walker - Liverpool Daily Post

Moves to sell Liverpool to one of Kuwait’s richest families have been prompted by the need of the club’s American owners to find a buyer by July.

That is when the £350m loans owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett took on when they bought the club two years ago must be refinanced.

The duo been actively searching for a new owner for months, but it is understood they have been made aware that the Royal Bank of Scotland will not refinance the original loan in the summer.

That loan was extended for six months at the beginning of the year, but a source close to the deal said: "Hicks has been told time is running out, the clock is ticking."

It has emerged that Hicks sanctioned talks this week with the Al-Kharafi family, initially over funding for the club’s new stadium but then for a possible £500m takeover.

Gillett is thought to have been initially unaware of the talks, held with the club’s commercial director Ian Ayre and financial director Phillip Nash.

Both are allies of Hicks in the on-going war between the club’s owners.

The source added: "Hicks knows that RBS will not re-finance the original deal."

Gillett, who wanted to sell to Dubai international capital last season only to be thwarted by Hicks, is understood not to be planning to block this current move in retaliation.

The Americans know they must find a buyer or a new financial arrangement with another bank, or see RBS take control themselves.

In the current climate no other bank is likely to be interested, while RBS’s involvement in control of Liverpool would also put the Government in a difficult decision considering they now own a majority stake.

The source added: "Hicks has been trying to sell his assets, and that is believed to include Texas Rangers, while Gillett has cut back on his NASCAR involvement.

"Liverpool was almost sold to the Al-Kharafi family in November, it only needed a signature, but they walked away. Hicks is believed to have been furious."

The Al-Kharafi family’s wealth is estimated at £8bn.

The family are led by two brothers, Nasser and Jassem, but the planned purchase of Liverpool is likely to be a project overseen by one of their sons.

The family made their fortune from a variety of enterprises, including construction, banking, engineering, telecommunications and fast food.

Nasser is a highly successful businessman who runs MA Kharafi & Sons, which oversees the family’s interests, while Jassem is an influential politician who has served for the past nine years as the speaker in the Kuwait National Assembly.

Hicks and Gillett bought the club for £218.9m in February 2007, but their regime has seen constant problems behind the scenes.

The new stadium development has been stopped and there is an on-going conflict between boss Rafael Benitez and chief executive Rick Parry, which has become public again during the negotiations over the manager’s new contract.

Benitez wants more power over transfers, curtailing Parry’s influence in that area.

JANUARY 23
Kuwaiti billionaires line up
£500m bid for Liverpool

By Ian Herbert - The Independent

Liverpool are engaged in covert talks with one of the wealthiest families in Kuwait, with a view to the sale of the club. The Al-Kharafi family has a collective wealth put at around £8bn, with the most significant member involved in the prospective purchase of Liverpool understood to be Rafed Al-Kharafi, nephew of patriarch Nasser, who was linked with the potential purchase of Newcastle United last year.

Though it had been thought that Liverpool's current American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who have been seeking a new owner for months now, may have settled on a figure of £350m – the total sum of the club's debt – it is understood that they may secure £500m for a sale from the Kuwaitis.

Two of Hicks' key allies at the club, finance director Philip Nash and commercial director Ian Ayre, have been in Kuwait this week, ostensibly seeking finance for the stalled development of the club's new stadium and though it is as yet unclear whether the two – very much in the Hicks camp – have yet had direct discussions with the Al-Kharafis, the events of the week point to a move towards a sale. One possibly outcome is that that the Al-Kharafis might buy out the 50 per cent share of Hicks' co-owner George Gillett, comfortably the less well off of the two owners and deeply frustrated by the current struggle to settle manager Rafael Benitez's contract issue.

The money the Al-Kharafis could bring – made from the family's construction, engineering and telecommunications businesses – is vitally needed, with Hicks and Gillett having conceded weeks ago that they do not have the capital to progress the new stadium project and Benitez still forced to sell players before he can buy.

The prospects of a sale were looking slim with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, now out of the picture. But there were rumours earlier this week that financier Amanda Staveley, who had brought al-Maktoum back to the negotiating table after their initial bid to buy Liverpool was dismissed in favour of the Americans in 2007, had become actively involved again in a prospective sale.

There are suggestions that Gillett has not been involved in the trip to Kuwait this week – and that he and Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry, an ally, have been kept out of the tentative discussions. But Gillett is the more likely to sell – and the Kuwaitis becoming minority shareholders is a possibility. Though Liverpool's current £350m bank facility was extended for six months earlier this year, there are doubts as to whether it will continue beyond then – with the two banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, both severely by the global financial crisis.

A £500m deal, to include taking on the club's debt, was all but agreed by one mystery buyer in the autumn but with a deal seemingly minutes away from signing, it went up in smoke for reasons which have never become clear. It now appears that the prospective buyers on that occasion were the Al Kharafis.

Thor Zakariassen ©