The Kop kings sent financial chief Philip Nash and
commercial director Ian Ayre to the Middle East this week for
discussions over a possible £400million deal. An Anfield insider
confirmed: “Talks are ongoing but there is real hope this could
finally be the answer to all the club’s problems — on and off the
pitch.”
Al-Kharafi had negotiations with Newcastle owner Mike
Ashley only three months ago about the likelihood of a £300m Toon
buy-out, which ultimately came to nothing. And his cousin came
close to snapping up Liverpool last November, when both sides
agreed a £500m asking price only for the credit crunch to send the
deal crashing.
Now Al-Kharafi has re-emerged as the potential saviour
of a Liverpool club which has been wracked by off-field
controversies since Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett arrived
in a £219m deal in February 2007.
Liverpool have offered 64-year-old Al-Kharafi, who has
a £12billion fortune, a 50 per cent stake. Hicks and Gillett would
reduce their share to 25 per cent each. But the Kuwaiti business
supremo, married with five children, is pushing for overall control
before agreeing to a deal that could be worth £400m.
Liverpool have been beset by headaches ever since David
Moores sold to the Americans instead of Sheikh Mohammad’s DIC group
two years ago next month. Sheikh Mohammad now insists he has lost
interest.
Hicks and Gillett have since refinanced the
Merseysiders to the extent that debts stand at £350m and plans for
a state-of-the-art, 73,000 all-seater stadium on Stanley Park have
ground to a halt.
After the Americans suspended work on the construction
in the wake of the credit crunch, a growing number of fans began to
believe the project would never get off the ground.
Now those dreams, and the prospect of being able to bid
for the biggest names in the football world, are alive and kicking
again. Al-Kharafi’s fortune comes as president of the MA Al-Kharafi
and Sons Group, one of the largest diversified conglomerates in the
Arab world.
It includes a massive food division, Americana, which
has exclusive Middle Eastern franchise rights for brands such as
Pizza Hut, KFC, Wimpy and TGI Friday’s.
Further investments include the National Bank of
Kuwait.
