Liverpool’s long-running search for investors to inject £100 million of capital and break the club’s financial paralysis must bear fruit before the end of the season if Rafael Benítez is to resist overtures from Juventus, the Spaniard admitted.
The Liverpool manager refused to be drawn on whether the Italian side, who has appointed Alberto Zaccheroni as caretaker until the end of the season, had made a formal offer for his services but revealed he is aware of Juventus’s “interest” and stated his “pride” at being linked with a “top club”.
Benítez retains the staunch support of the club’s board, and Liverpool formally reminded Juventus that he is under contract, warning they would pursue legal action if it transpired the Italian side had made an illegal approach.
Benítez insists he is “happy” on Merseyside and determined to “continue fighting” as Liverpool attempt to retain their Champions League status, but he acknowledged that fresh funding – boosting his transfer coffers and enabling work on the club’s planned new stadium — was an “important” factor in deciding his long-term future.
“It is important for everyone at the club and for all the fans to see these things happen,” he said. “Everyone wants to see the team and the club progress. I think we’re going in the right direction but we have to move forward. We know the key at the end is the stadium and the new investors.
“I think we have a new investor or maybe more [investors] coming this year, and the possibility of a new stadium would be a big boost for everyone here. All of these things are on the agenda. We have to trust and have the belief that they will happen.”
Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s managing director, has been tasked with selling a 25 per cent stake in the club for £100 million in a bid to provide the equity infusion which would bring to an end more than two years of financial stasis at Anfield.
Purslow is confident of presenting an offer to the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, in the coming weeks, though Benítez’s suggestion that it is now time for action to commence and talking to stop is understandable.
Rumours of imminent investment have swirled around Anfield almost since the day the two Americans took charge, and yet Benítez has continually found his ambitions hampered by an ongoing need to service the £237 million debt laden on to the club by its absentee owners.
He has signed just one player, Maxi Rodriguez, on a free transfer this month, despite selling Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voronin for a combined £6.2 million. Barring a major change of tack at Anfield in the next 72 hours, Benítez will have been condemned to spending only what he raises for four consecutive transfer windows.
The Spaniard is already planning for a fifth, attempting to land the likes of Marouane Chamakh and Milan Jovanovic on free transfers, a policy he insists is not affected by the doubts over his own future. “Players know I have four years of contract and if they want to come they will come because it is Liverpool, a club with fantastic fans and a fantastic team,” he said.
While his departure is not imminent, that Juventus remain confident of luring Benítez to Turin in the summer – he heads a four-man shortlist including Fiorentina’s Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach Marcello Lippi and the Cagliari manager Massimiliano Allegri – suggests a sea-change in the nature of the debate over his future.
For much of a dispiriting campaign, Liverpool’s fan-base has been split over whether Benítez is the manager to satisfy the club’s ambitions. Given Anfield’s parlous financial state, though, Benítez would not be alone in asking whether Liverpool, without the cash infusion provided by investment, is the club to fulfil a manager’s desire to succeed.
The Liverpool manager refused to be drawn on whether the Italian side, who has appointed Alberto Zaccheroni as caretaker until the end of the season, had made a formal offer for his services but revealed he is aware of Juventus’s “interest” and stated his “pride” at being linked with a “top club”.
Benítez retains the staunch support of the club’s board, and Liverpool formally reminded Juventus that he is under contract, warning they would pursue legal action if it transpired the Italian side had made an illegal approach.
Benítez insists he is “happy” on Merseyside and determined to “continue fighting” as Liverpool attempt to retain their Champions League status, but he acknowledged that fresh funding – boosting his transfer coffers and enabling work on the club’s planned new stadium — was an “important” factor in deciding his long-term future.
“It is important for everyone at the club and for all the fans to see these things happen,” he said. “Everyone wants to see the team and the club progress. I think we’re going in the right direction but we have to move forward. We know the key at the end is the stadium and the new investors.
“I think we have a new investor or maybe more [investors] coming this year, and the possibility of a new stadium would be a big boost for everyone here. All of these things are on the agenda. We have to trust and have the belief that they will happen.”
Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s managing director, has been tasked with selling a 25 per cent stake in the club for £100 million in a bid to provide the equity infusion which would bring to an end more than two years of financial stasis at Anfield.
Purslow is confident of presenting an offer to the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, in the coming weeks, though Benítez’s suggestion that it is now time for action to commence and talking to stop is understandable.
Rumours of imminent investment have swirled around Anfield almost since the day the two Americans took charge, and yet Benítez has continually found his ambitions hampered by an ongoing need to service the £237 million debt laden on to the club by its absentee owners.
He has signed just one player, Maxi Rodriguez, on a free transfer this month, despite selling Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voronin for a combined £6.2 million. Barring a major change of tack at Anfield in the next 72 hours, Benítez will have been condemned to spending only what he raises for four consecutive transfer windows.
The Spaniard is already planning for a fifth, attempting to land the likes of Marouane Chamakh and Milan Jovanovic on free transfers, a policy he insists is not affected by the doubts over his own future. “Players know I have four years of contract and if they want to come they will come because it is Liverpool, a club with fantastic fans and a fantastic team,” he said.
While his departure is not imminent, that Juventus remain confident of luring Benítez to Turin in the summer – he heads a four-man shortlist including Fiorentina’s Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach Marcello Lippi and the Cagliari manager Massimiliano Allegri – suggests a sea-change in the nature of the debate over his future.
For much of a dispiriting campaign, Liverpool’s fan-base has been split over whether Benítez is the manager to satisfy the club’s ambitions. Given Anfield’s parlous financial state, though, Benítez would not be alone in asking whether Liverpool, without the cash infusion provided by investment, is the club to fulfil a manager’s desire to succeed.
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