Liverpool have delayed a decision on the designs for their new stadium as American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jnr try to thrash out a refinancing deal for the club.
Following presentations from two firms of architects which ran late into the evening at a board meeting in New York on Tuesday, Liverpool were due to make an announcement on their revised plans for the move to their new home at Stanley Park last night.
But chief executive Rick Parry issued a statement yesterday saying that while good progress had been made, a final decision had been put off.
He insisted, however, that whichever design was chosen, the club would be getting an "excellent result".
Parry said: "It was a very full day. We had two very detailed and very informative presentations which were very thorough and extremely professional. It has been another big step forward to finding the best possible solution and the whole meeting was very constructive."
Hicks and Gillett ordered the review of the stadium plans after Dallas-based architects HKS overshot the budget for the new 70,000-seat arena by £50 million.
The American owners then asked them to scale down their plans at the same time as asking Manchester firm AFL to come up with their own designs. "A clear decision will be taken soon," said Parry. "They were both very good in terms of coming closer to the right solution."
The reality for Hicks and Gillett is that they cannot choose a final stadium design until they have a clearer picture of how they are to finance that, plus £270 million of loans taken out last February to pay for their acquisition of the club.
Talks are ongoing with the Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wachovia about a new £350 million refinancing but have stalled after concerns over the amount of debt being placed on the club's books. There have also been question marks over the amount of cash being pumped into the refinancing by Hicks and Gillett.
Since the new year, the Americans have become more confident of clinching a deal before the one-year loan with RBS expires. One option being discussed by the banks is to lend money to the club to fund the start of work on the stadium project at the same time as offering Hicks and Gillett breathing space to raise new investment to help refinance the club acquisition.
Although the future of manager Rafael Benitez is certain to have been on the agenda during the meeting in New York, there was no comment from the club on the Spaniard yesterday.
On Tuesday he repeated his determination to stay at Liverpool, distancing himself from reports last weekend which suggested he expected to be fired in the summer.
Following presentations from two firms of architects which ran late into the evening at a board meeting in New York on Tuesday, Liverpool were due to make an announcement on their revised plans for the move to their new home at Stanley Park last night.
But chief executive Rick Parry issued a statement yesterday saying that while good progress had been made, a final decision had been put off.
He insisted, however, that whichever design was chosen, the club would be getting an "excellent result".
Parry said: "It was a very full day. We had two very detailed and very informative presentations which were very thorough and extremely professional. It has been another big step forward to finding the best possible solution and the whole meeting was very constructive."
Hicks and Gillett ordered the review of the stadium plans after Dallas-based architects HKS overshot the budget for the new 70,000-seat arena by £50 million.
The American owners then asked them to scale down their plans at the same time as asking Manchester firm AFL to come up with their own designs. "A clear decision will be taken soon," said Parry. "They were both very good in terms of coming closer to the right solution."
The reality for Hicks and Gillett is that they cannot choose a final stadium design until they have a clearer picture of how they are to finance that, plus £270 million of loans taken out last February to pay for their acquisition of the club.
Talks are ongoing with the Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wachovia about a new £350 million refinancing but have stalled after concerns over the amount of debt being placed on the club's books. There have also been question marks over the amount of cash being pumped into the refinancing by Hicks and Gillett.
Since the new year, the Americans have become more confident of clinching a deal before the one-year loan with RBS expires. One option being discussed by the banks is to lend money to the club to fund the start of work on the stadium project at the same time as offering Hicks and Gillett breathing space to raise new investment to help refinance the club acquisition.
Although the future of manager Rafael Benitez is certain to have been on the agenda during the meeting in New York, there was no comment from the club on the Spaniard yesterday.
On Tuesday he repeated his determination to stay at Liverpool, distancing himself from reports last weekend which suggested he expected to be fired in the summer.
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