Rafael Benitez will have to sell players to raise funds if he wishes to strengthen Liverpool's squad as the Anfield club prepare for their first real title challenge since 1990.
The club's owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, are unlikely to sanction any significant transfer spending unless Benitez can generate funds by trimming the fat from his squad.
Of more immediate concern to the American duo is the need to service the interest on the £350 million loan taken out this time last year with RBS and troubled US bank Wachovia.
That loan is due to be repaid on Jan 25, although Hicks and Gillett are likely to invoke a clause giving them a six-month extension on the deadline.
City sources believe the banks will accept the delay as long as the interest is being serviced, which will tie up the overwhelming majority of money generated by the club.
Both Hicks and Gillett have been hit hard by the global financial downturn. Hicks is trying to cut the wage bills at both of his US sporting interests, ice hockey's Dallas Stars and baseball team Texas Rangers, while sources in Canada believe Gillett could be tempted to cash in on the Montreal Canadiens.
Neither is in a position to dig deep and help Benitez bolster his playing resources. Rather, the Spaniard will be forced yet again to don his accustomed guise of inveterate wheeler-dealer.
Fringe players like Yossi Benayoun, Daniel Agger and Jermaine Pennant could be offloaded, while big-money summer signings Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena could also leave after just six months at Anfield.
In their stead would come cover for Fernando Torres, who has seen his second season in England hampered by a succession of injuries.
It was revealed this week that Benitez is finally due to sign a contract extension after a financial package was agreed. The only sticking point now remains his demands for full control of transfer policy and recruitment to the club's Academy.
In straitened times on Merseyside, the latter may prove rather more significant than the former.
The club's owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, are unlikely to sanction any significant transfer spending unless Benitez can generate funds by trimming the fat from his squad.
Of more immediate concern to the American duo is the need to service the interest on the £350 million loan taken out this time last year with RBS and troubled US bank Wachovia.
That loan is due to be repaid on Jan 25, although Hicks and Gillett are likely to invoke a clause giving them a six-month extension on the deadline.
City sources believe the banks will accept the delay as long as the interest is being serviced, which will tie up the overwhelming majority of money generated by the club.
Both Hicks and Gillett have been hit hard by the global financial downturn. Hicks is trying to cut the wage bills at both of his US sporting interests, ice hockey's Dallas Stars and baseball team Texas Rangers, while sources in Canada believe Gillett could be tempted to cash in on the Montreal Canadiens.
Neither is in a position to dig deep and help Benitez bolster his playing resources. Rather, the Spaniard will be forced yet again to don his accustomed guise of inveterate wheeler-dealer.
Fringe players like Yossi Benayoun, Daniel Agger and Jermaine Pennant could be offloaded, while big-money summer signings Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena could also leave after just six months at Anfield.
In their stead would come cover for Fernando Torres, who has seen his second season in England hampered by a succession of injuries.
It was revealed this week that Benitez is finally due to sign a contract extension after a financial package was agreed. The only sticking point now remains his demands for full control of transfer policy and recruitment to the club's Academy.
In straitened times on Merseyside, the latter may prove rather more significant than the former.
No comments:
Post a Comment