Whatever the new management team at Liverpool can achieve to restore the club's fortunes is going to be constrained both financially and in terms of stability as long as the ownership question is not resolved. The general view is that Tom Hicks and George Gillett have set too high an asking price, given that any new owner would be expected to fund a new stadium in Stanley Park. Indeed, that is essential if the club is to progress.
Now it appears that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is owed about £350m by Kop Holdings, is losing patience with the lack of progress towards a sale. Apparently, it would be possible for RBS to call in a large amount of the money owed in October. The move would trigger a default on the debt by the club and control would pass to the bank, just as has happened in the past week with AS Roma in Italy.
RBS, which is currently publicly owned, has no more wish than UniCredit in Italy to own a major football club. But it seems that it would be prepared to consider taking charge temporarily of the sale process to get a result.
My reading of the situation would be that RBS may be dropping hints to Martin Broughton that it wants the process of finding a new owner speeded up so that there is an outcome by the end of the summer. It wants to continue its relationship with Liverpool which has been quite lucrative given the interest payments involved (£40m last year, but not all to RBS). I do not think it would press matters to a default, but at least if there is renewed pressure to resolve the ownership issue, which is good news for long-suffering Liverpool fans.
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