Rafa Benitez will stay with
Liverpool because the club
cannot afford to pay out his contract.
The Sunday Mirror says the Reds, whose debts have risen
over the past year to £351million, believed the Spaniard was on
his way out after six years when Juventus made him their No 1 target.
But Benitez turned his back on the Italian club – who are now
about to make Sampdoria boss Gigi del Neri their new coach –
because they refused to bow to his demands.
That means Liverpool have to
pay Benitez the £16m he would be due under the terms of the
remaining four years of his contract.
Co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are unable to sanction
the pay-off because it would take the club further into the red at
a time when new chairman Martin Broughton has been appointed to
find a buyer.