The future of Liverpool and their American owners has once again been cast in doubt amid fresh reports of financial trouble.
The Independent reports that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are at loggerheads with the rest of the club's board.
The cause of the dispute is the way in which the pair plan to refinance the loan with which they secured ownership of Liverpool last year. The loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland is due to be repaid at the end of next month and, rather than inject their own money, Hicks and Gillett are intent on securing a second loan of around £350m to pay off the first.
'The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own,' reports newspaper.
The club's board are understandably aghast at this proposal, not least because it directly contravenes the American's pledge not to plunge the club in 'Glazer-style' debt. 'Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money - which they may be unwilling or unable to provide - the impasse will continue,' says the newspaper.
With neither party willing to budge, a sale becomes increasingly likely. The newspaper cites a 'major football financier' claiming that 'Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way.'
The Independent reports that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are at loggerheads with the rest of the club's board.
The cause of the dispute is the way in which the pair plan to refinance the loan with which they secured ownership of Liverpool last year. The loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland is due to be repaid at the end of next month and, rather than inject their own money, Hicks and Gillett are intent on securing a second loan of around £350m to pay off the first.
'The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own,' reports newspaper.
The club's board are understandably aghast at this proposal, not least because it directly contravenes the American's pledge not to plunge the club in 'Glazer-style' debt. 'Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money - which they may be unwilling or unable to provide - the impasse will continue,' says the newspaper.
With neither party willing to budge, a sale becomes increasingly likely. The newspaper cites a 'major football financier' claiming that 'Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way.'
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