An announcement about the takeover of Liverpool Football Club is
imminent according to Rick Parry. Speaking to BBC Five Live at the
weekend, the LFC chief executive explained what it could mean for
the future of the club.
Parry also spoke about Real Madrid's approach for Rafa Benitez last
summer and revealed there might be more new faces at Melwood before
the transfer window closes at the end of January.
Here's the interview in full:
What's your reaction to the six-goal
defeat to Arsenal last week?
It was obviously disappointing to lose both of the cup games to
Arsenal because at the end of the day what we want at Liverpool is
silverware. But it happened and the most important thing was to
pick ourselves up and get back to winning ways in the league, which
we did very successfully on Saturday. The week has ended well. It
was also very gratifying that the youth team beat Chelsea 2-0, so
the first steps to retain the Youth Cup are going well.
Would you have hoped for a stronger team
last Tuesday, bearing in mind that competition represented a
realistic chance of silverware?
You have to remember that we had a very good Christmas, getting
nine points out of 12, but four games in 10 days takes its toll.
We've still got a lot to play for in the league plus a
mouth-watering tie against Barcelona. It's always been very clear
since the day we appointed Rafa, and in fact even before we
appointed him, that he would use his whole squad. He has done that
every year. We've had criticism before, no doubt we'll have it
again. In his first season we lost 2-0 to Burnley and there was a
lot of discontent but of course we went on to win the Champions
League, which more than made up for it. At the end of the day Rafa
never picks a team to lose a game; he always picks a team which he
believes in the circumstances can win, that's what we're here for.
We love to win trophies but it doesn't always work and you just
have to pick yourself up.
As well as being chief executive, you're
a big Liverpool fan. Do you ever look at the team on a day like
last Tuesday with a fan's hat on and think, I wish it was
stronger?
Not really. It hurts when we lose it hurts us as much as any fan.
We've done well in the past with weaker teams in the cup
competitions. Also, this year in the Carling Cup we've lost players
to injury: we lost Momo Sissoko long-term and now Luis Garcia,
who's going to be out for the rest of the season.
What do you make of the suggestion that
Liverpool can learn from Arsenal in terms of buying young
players?
I think Rafa is impatient for success, as we all are, and at the
end of the day we have spent, by any analysis, a lot of money on
players. You can't do everything simultaneously if the priority
is first-team players and you have a fixed budget, then clearly the
young players have to wait. I think what Rafa also said very
explicitly this week is that Arsenal have been doing this for 10
years. We're two years into a project, so we have a long way to go.
Arsene Wenger has been buying good young players for a long time
and is starting to see the fruits of it. We are, as we all know,
playing catch-up. But in the summer Rafa turned down the
opportunity to go to Real Madrid, which was a big temptation for
him, because he believed in the direction we are taking. We're all
passionate to win trophies and the one we'd all love to win is of
course the Premier League.
Do you think you should be spending more
on young players?
We've signed three this week but you have to set priorities and
obviously the priority is the first team. We've invested
substantial sums in the first-team over the last three years. You
can't do everything at once, it has to be one step at a time.
Is it likely you'll sign more players
before the end of the transfer window?
We may well do, we'll have to see what the next few days bring.
We're working on a few things at the moment and we'll reveal the
news when we are ready. We're working hard on it.
Will anyone be sold?
I think it's unlikely because we've got a lot of games to play.
We've had a couple of key injuries so it's unlikely anyone will be
going out.
Can you tell us more about the offer
Real made for Rafa Benitez?
Well it was fairly public at the time so it's not really a
revelation. I think it was pretty serious. For Rafa it was
obviously a temptation because Real Madrid is his club; he's been
there as a player and a coach, so it will always be an opportunity
he'd have to consider. We sat down for a few hours together and
talked about the direction the club was going in. He enjoys being
in Liverpool and his family enjoys being in Liverpool, and the
point is, he believes in the direction were taking and that our
mutual ambitions match.
What's the latest concerning the proposed
takeover?
A huge amount of work has been going on on both sides and I imagine
we'll have something concrete to say relatively soon on that.
Give us a layman's explanation of what's
going on at the moment?
They're just finalising all of the legal work. They've been
examining the books and satisfying themselves that everything is
fine on that score. There's a lot of legal work to do, documents to
be drawn up and investigation into the funding of the new stadium,
which is a very important project for us. There's no lack of effort
on their part.
Is it just a case of dotting the I's and
crossing the T's?
It's a case of finalising the due-diligence and pulling everything
together, which we hope will be done relatively quickly.
How often are you talking to
them?
Over the past month or so they've had a team of people here;
they've had several people working with us for a significant
period. They're not with us at the moment, they're back in Dubai,
but they are working around the clock. They've obviously been on a
steep learning curve because football is a little different from
most of their key businesses. It helps that most of the people
we've been dealing with are genuinely Liverpool supporters, so they
understand what we're about. They were at the FA Cup game against
Arsenal, so they shared our disappointment on that one. There's
always a tremendous amount of work to do on these things and it
can't be rushed, we have to do things properly.
Are you 100 per cent confident the deal
will go through?
It is looking positive and yes I am confident.
When they come in, will there be lots
more money to buy players?
They're certainly going to help take us to the next level. They're
not going to be profligate with spending, we've said all along the
club will have to be run along businesslike lines. It's not going
to be a rich-man's plaything. We're going to have to be sensible
but their whole business model, which involves the new stadium at
the centre of it, is based on success. They recognise that success
on the pitch leads to success off it and that you have to invest in
order to stay at the top. It's not a quick-fix, it's not about
rushing out to buy players for this season or next season; it's
about securing a model for long-term success.
Just a final question about David
Beckham. Obviously you know about the workings of a football club;
he'll be making £130 million over five years, what did you think
when you heard that?
I think that sum ruled us out of the running! It's astonishing and
probably more Hollywood than football, but good luck to
them.
