Liverpool money crisis deepens as
American owners miss deadline over £220m debt
Fernando Torres, starting to pay back his £21million transfer fee,
scored twice yesterday as Rafa Benitez's Liverpool trounced
Portsmouth 4-1 at Anfield to stay in touch with the Premier League
pacesetters. But off the field, the failure so far of efforts by
American owners George Gillett jnr and Tom Hicks to refinance the
£220million they borrowed from the Royal Bank of Scotland to fund
their takeover of the club 10 months ago is pushing Liverpool
towards an unprecedented period of uncertainty.
The American owners have missed a selfimposed deadline to strike a
deal with RBS before Christmas. The bank will not allow the club to
go under but the problems facing Gillett and Hicks could hasten
their departure and see Dubai International Capital, the
state-backed investment firm who were in pole position to buy
Liverpool before the arrival of the Americans, back in the market
as potential new owners.
Adding to the intrigue over the club's future, it is understood
that former Germany World Cup coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been
sounded out as a replacement for Benitez. It is believed that
contact between Klinsmann and the club has taken place at a high
level and the German is thought to be interested in taking over at
Anfield.
Despite assurances that there is money to spend in the January
window, Benitez's public rift with Hicks and Gillett over the
club's transfer policy may be beyond repair. Boardroom backing for
Benitez has been lukewarm in the wake of reports linking Klinsmann
with the job.
Sources close to the ex- Tottenham striker and former Footballer of
the Year believe he is eager to end his self-imposed exile from
football and take a top manager's job. A move for Klinsmann could
proceed regardless of whether Hicks and Gillett remain the owners
of Liverpool, but the crisis in their refinancing plans threatens
to undermine the club both on and off the pitch.
Despite revelations last week that talks with RBS and American bank
Wachovia over a new £350m loan had stalled, Kekst, the American
owners' New York-based PR firm, continued to brief that a deal
would be done before Christmas.
But Friday, the last day for business before the festive break,
passed without announcement and although it is understood that
negotiations will continue, banking sources on this side of
Atlantic believe an impasse has been reached. Hicks and Gillett
have until February to refinance the £220m they borrowed from RBS
to fund their takeover, plus the interest which has accrued in the
past year, the credit notes used to buy Torres and Ryan Babel, and
£60m to cover initial work on a new stadium.
If they are unable to strike a deal before the deadline and unable
to persuade RBS to take up the option of extending the existing
loan for another year, the bank stand to become the de facto owners
of the club.
