Fog Of Anfield Boardroom War Clouds Over Merseyside Derby

All that is known about the immediate future of Liverpool Football Club is this: at 1.30 next Sunday, Roy Hodgson's side will take to the field for the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Steven Gerrard will wear the captain's armband, Fernando Torres, injury permitting, will lead the attacking line.

For the 214th time, red will face blue. Everything else is shades of grey.

Liverpool, perhaps for as much as the next seven days, exist in a state of duality. The side that Hodgson picks to face Everton may have six Premier League points, or they may have, in effect, minus three. Their wages may be paid from Dallas, from Boston, from Gogarburn or from points unknown.

They may be supported from the Paddock by fans relieved that the nightmare of the last three years, the toxic reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, is over and a new era under New England Sports Ventures (NESV) has begun. They may find the protest songs that have replaced more traditional serenades are spat with greater ferocity than ever.

They may have a bright future, or they may seem to have no future. It may all be over, or it may all just have begun. Liverpool are the Premier League's version of Schrodinger's cat. They are a club caught in existential limbo, simultaneously alive and dead.

At the High Court this week, chairman Martin Broughton must prove that Hicks and Gillett not only signed over to him the right to appoint and remove directors, but agreed he could sell the club for what he felt was the best offer.

Hicks and Gillett, in turn, must prove the NESV offer is not reasonable, and both that their higher valuation of the club is realistic and that someone may be willing to pay it.

Which Liverpool side -- the one imbued with purpose, or the one mired in doubt -- attends Goodison Park may well be decided on the Strand.

If Broughton is proved correct then it is likely to be the former, as a club inspired by the sight of its new owners in the directors' box finally feels the gloom has lifted. If Hicks and Gillett win, even after an appeal that will be heard within 72 hours of the original case, then it will be the latter.

It is here that Liverpool's future becomes complicated. If Broughton is unsuccessful, then the sale will not proceed. On Friday, RBS will call in their debts. Unless Hicks and Gillett can pay back around £200m -- and all attempts to raise that funding have failed -- then the club, or, more accurately, its holding company Kop Football, will be taken into administration.

That, too, has dual ramifications. It is positive, in that it would effectively force Hicks and Gillett out as RBS seize control and look to complete a quick sale, perhaps costing the Americans a further £110m in personal guarantees and most likely presenting the club to NESV.

It is negative, though, because the Premier League would be minded to dock Liverpool nine points, three more than they have.

It is not nearly so simple as that, though. Regardless of how the court finds, if Hicks and Gillett pay back their debts in the next six days -- however hypothetical that seems -- then they remove much of the bank's leverage. They would be able to stop the sale, buying crucial time to remove directors.

Yet even that is a shorthand. Hicks and Gillett as a dual entity no longer exist. The latter has been replaced by Mill Financial, the company with whom he took out a $75m (£47m) loan in December 2008 with his 50 per cent share in the partnership that owns Liverpool as security. He has defaulted on that loan, and Mill, a division of Springfield Financial, have called it in.

Sources in the US insist that is simply a legal measure; Liverpool and RBS believe it is not a complicating factor. Yet both sides are concerned enough to have had contact with Mill in the past few days.

That Hicks's two would-be directors are both his loyalists indicates he cannot be sure of Gillett's place on the board.

That is how unclear Liverpool's future is: not only is Broughton trying to sell a club he does not own, not only is Hicks trying to hold on to a club he did not pay for, half of that club belongs to a real estate company based in Arlington, Virginia, and their intentions -- though most likely simply to recoup their money -- are shaded in grey.

Liverpool can only hope that, by the time red and blue face each other, everything else is black and white.

Liverpool's New Owners Face A Familiar Stadium Dilemma At Anfield

Jamie Carragher's testimonial committee had three basic wishes when, more than two years ago, they started preparing for his big day. Everton would provide the opposition; local charities would receive the proceeds; and the game would be the first at Liverpool's grand new stadium on Stanley Park. On 4 September this year they fulfilled two out of three. At Anfield.

Like many before them, they were long ago resigned to the fact that option three was an illusion.

The frustrations of Carragher's committee were trivial and brief in comparison to those suffered by Liverpool supporters, and by residents of one of the most deprived local authority wards in Britain, for whom a new stadium was presented as key to regeneration and 1,000 new jobs in the late 1990s.

This week, given the right result in the high court, New England Sports Ventures will be tasked with delivering an arena that is essential both to the revival of Liverpool FC and a community. The contentment of Fernando Torres and promised transfer sprees deliver headlines that win immediate support for prospective new owners, but it is how quickly they construct a solution to a 40-year-old problem will determine Liverpool's long-term fortunes.

John W Henry and his 16 fellow investors in NESV do not yet have control of Liverpool but there is already scepticism over their prospects. The club's astute former chief executive, Peter Robinson, identified the constraints at Anfield when calling for a joint stadium with Everton in the late 1960s. It was an inability to fund a new stadium that prompted David Moores to sell to Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and the main reason the Americans lost their business model and trust at Liverpool.

"If they had not been leveraged then they would have started the stadium, and we wouldn't be saying what terrible guys these are," said Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman attempting to sell the club against the wishes of the American co-owners.

As regards the income-generating potential of a big, modern stadium, Liverpool have been left trailing by a growing number of rivals for more than a decade. A commitment to build, and to inject £100m in cash into the project, was a condition of the sale process conducted by Broughton and the chief executive Christian Purslow, and it was the track record of NESV in redeveloping the Fenway Park home of the Boston Red Sox that swayed a majority on the Liverpool board. The club had received an identical £300m offer, of which £240m is cash, from a rival suitor in Asia.

NESV will not arrive blind to the situation should they be installed as owners this week. The group have already held discussions with the Royal Bank of Scotland over financing a new stadium through, as Broughton put it, "a sensible, normal level of debt and equity". Joe Anderson, the leader of Liverpool city council, is also primed to meet owners he has welcomed but whose intention to consider redeveloping Anfield he opposes.

Liverpool and the Anfield area have deteriorated in tandem while the club have remained at their iconic, atmospheric but financially constrained 45,362-capacity home. Given the respective revenue streams of England's leading clubs it is no surprise that Rafael Benítez, and Gérard Houllier before him, frequently complained about the expectation to deliver a first league title since 1990 on such an uneven playing field.

In the financial year 2008-09, Liverpool earned £42m from gate and match-day income. Manchester United generated £109m and Arsenal £100m in the same period. United's good fortune in having access to acres of land to redevelop Old Trafford, and Arsenal's exhaustive fight to construct the Emirates, means they earn more from home matches per season than from TV and broadcasting. Liverpool are among those clubs for whom TV and broadcasting revenue outweighs match-day earnings.

Liverpool's commercial income has tripled in recent years under director Ian Ayre, however, helping the club achieve a record income of £185m in the year ending 30 July 2009. That, and Liverpool's mass global appeal, ensures that in two of the three main revenue streams for Premier League clubs – commercial activities, broadcasting rights and match-day – Liverpool fare impressively. Once the interest payments on debts built up by Hicks and Gillett are no more – last year they stood at almost £40m – their spending power increases further. But they will continue to languish behind their competitors without a new stadium that can seat 60,000-plus, and now is not the time to be found wanting.

Manchester City embody the race to cement a place in the Champions League and close the drawbridge on the rest before Uefa's financial fair-play rules come into effect in 2012-13. The rules "encourage clubs to operate more responsibly by not spending more than they earn", according to Uefa, and will prevent clubs that are bankrolled by billionaires competing in Europe unless they break even over a rolling three-year period. Debt taken on to build a new stadium does not enter the Uefa equation, so Tottenham, with planning permission for a new 56,000-seat stadium near White Hart Lane and an application in to lease the Olympic Stadium after 2012, have also stolen a march on Liverpool.

"The financial fair-play rules come into effect pretty damn soon so taking a rational, commercial approach to success is absolutely the right way forward," insists Broughton. "I couldn't help notice that Manchester City's wage bill for last year was exceeding its revenue. That is going to be very difficult under financial fair play. They might be able to sort it out before then but we were not looking for someone who was going to put us in that position. We were looking for somebody who was going to see this as a commercial business that can be commercially successful."

Simply breaking the ground would be ground-breaking for Liverpool.

Liverpool Chairman Wanted Abramovich-Style Owner

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has revealed that he "scoured the world" in search of a sugar daddy owner in the mould of Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan but failed to find one.

While a section of Liverpool fans are concerned it will be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire by swapping one set of American owners with another, Broughton attempts to ease their worries in an exclusive interview with ESPNsoccernet while away in the States.

Instead of a billionaire, Liverpool will have a few multi-millionaires, and in the financially-competitive Premier League there is some scepticism about the men who own Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Ventures.

From his Washington hotel, Broughton told ESPNsoccernet that it might turn out to be better in the long run.

Broughton explained: "We searched the world looking for another owner like the ones at Chelsea and Manchester City. With all of Liverpool's traditions, heritage, history and powerful global brand, I must admit I thought it would be possible to find one.

"We hoped for someone who wanted a 'trophy asset', but having scoured the world without finding one, the conclusion is that there are no more Romans out there.

"Yes, of course, it is disappointing that even a name like Liverpool failed to attract one, so I cannot imagine other club having much luck."

I suggested to Broughton that it is very optimistic to believe that there are sugar daddies queueing up to buy Premier League clubs, when in reality that is not the case. The majority of Premier League clubs would leap at the chance of a takeover, and Liverpool at last have one, while many are still waiting in hope to clear their debts.

Broughton said: "Yes, everyone is aware of how many Premier League clubs there are for sale, but Liverpool is different, at least it should have been different, as it is a global brand compared to some of the other clubs, and for that reason you would have thought it would have appealed to a sugar daddy.

"But the truth is that there is only one Roman Abramovich, there is only one Sheikh Mansour, because we couldn't find another one."

Chelsea cost their Russian owner less than £70 million, taking control with a £17 million buyout of Ken Bates, although he invested half a billion from that point. It was the same at Manchester City, where there wasn't a premium price tag.

Broughton added: "With Liverpool, whatever the price to buy it, came a heavy obligation to spend something like £300 million on a new stadium, and £350 million of debt or an obligation to turn that into equity. Liverpool came with some heavy numbers, whereas Abramovich paid very little to gain control of Chelsea.

"So no matter how far and wide we looked there was no evidence of a sugar daddy type around.

"Perhaps it will end up being to our advantage, when the financial fair play rules apply in 2013, we will have the ideal owners in a way, owners who understand the commercial realities of a running a club and running a sporting team, and how to invest in the team, and produce a winning team.

"More reality will come in to football, and it is important that our supporters take this aspect on board. Put Manchester City to one side, and how many big money transfers were there this summer? Not that many. Reality is setting in across the board."

Hicks And Gillett Could Cost Themselves £110 Million

Liverpool's ace card against Tom Hicks and George Gillett in the looming court case is that the £300 million takeover by New England Sports Ventures is actually in the best interests of the outgoing owners - because it wipes out a massive £110 million worth of personal guarantees to the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Hicks and Gillett stand to lose a total of £254 million if the move by the owners of the Boston Red Sox collapses and they cannot find a replacement new owner by Friday.

In another twist, leaked minutes from a Liverpool board meeting allegedly contain Hicks making personal and abusive comments about Liverpool fans, which will rake up the hatred felt by the supporters against the current owners. However, it is impossible to see how much more despised Hicks and Gillett can become.

More importantly, ESPNsoccernet can exclusively reveal the cornerstone of Liverpool's case is that the takeover is in everyone's best interests. The hearing is not likely until Tuesday at the earliest. An inside source said: "It's in Hicks and Gillett's best interests, the board will argue, because it caps their losses at £144 million. Part of the deal with NESV is that the Royal Bank of Scotland wipe out the £110 million of personal guarantees."

An out of court settlement with Hicks and Gillett cannot be ruled out as the board is so confident that they will win the court case. Martin Broughton cannot comment on the specifics of the case, but the Liverpool chairman has told ESPNsoccernet that he believes he can win the case and the takeover can go through.

Behind the scenes 'negotiations' are clearly going on between the warring factions aimed at avoiding a messy public court hearing that would tear the club apart. Equally, the court hearing, which comes just days before Friday's deadline with the Royal Bank of Scotland, is unlikely to be the end of the legal wranglings, as whoever losses the initial hearing is sure to seek an appeal.

On the issue of an appeal, Liverpool's lawyers will argue that if Hicks and Gillett lose and the takeover can go through, and they call for an appeal, it would seriously jeopordise the takeover, and potentially throw the club into administration, thereby putting the club's surviva at risk.

If the legal actions drag to a second hearing, it is inevitable that RBS will have to take some decision on Friday, most likely to suspend the outcome of whether to put the club into administration pending the final court room verdict.

The logical solution is for both sets of lawyers to find some sort of middle ground, even if it is a settlement on the steps of the High Court. There is no direct contact anymore between the factions, with Hicks and Gillett on one side and the three English members of the board led by Broughton on the other.

Broughton told ESPNsoccernet exclusively: "All of these issues I cannot possibly comment on, as this is going to court, one would assume. We have no date for the hearing yet, but we are told it is a 'short order' and so it would be any day hopefully early next week.

However, without going into any legal detail, Broughton said: "Yes, I am confident we shall win. However we all know when you have to sets of lawyers they are both telling you that they are 100% confident that they will win."

Dalglish Quiet Over Potential Liverpool Return

Kenny Dalglish was asked on Saturday if he wanted to return to football management, and the Liverpool legend chose not to rule out his potential comeback.

The name of Dalglish echoed around Anfield at the end of Liverpool's recent 2-1 defeat to Blackpool, with many fans believing the Scot should have been handed the manager's job after Rafael Benitez departed. Dalglish did offer his services over the summer but was flatly ruled out of the equation by chairman Martin Broughton.

However, after Roy Hodgson took his league record to one win in seven with the Blackpool defeat, the possibility of Dalglish taking on a second stint as the Reds' manager appears to be back on the horizon.

The club expects to have new owners within a week's time as New England Sports Ventures attempts to complete the takeover of Liverpool Football Club, and Broughton recently confirmed that, while the new owners have confidence in Hodgson, the current manager does have a release clause in his contract.

Dalglish has far too much respect for Hodgson to put him in an unenviable position by reiterating his desire to take the reins at Anfield, but the club's most revered player could not deny his interest when asked over the weekend.

"First of all you need to be asked, second it needs to be suitable if you were asked," Dalglish told Reuters.

"Because you don't say 'No', people think you say 'Yes' but that is not necessarily true either. I wouldn't say anything other than I am really happy at the moment. There is nothing definitive either way."

Chairman Confirms Hodgson Release Clause

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has confirmed to ESPNsoccernet that the future of manager Roy Hodgson following a takeover is catered for in the provisions of his contract.

Prospective owners New England Sports Ventures (NESV), led by John W Henry, plans to sit down with Hodgson once the deal is complete to discuss his vision for Liverpool's future.

The men who own the Boston Red Sox have no immediate plans to install their own manager but Broughton was brutally honest about the situation Hodgson now faces, and how Hodgson entered into his Liverpool contract with his eyes wide open.

In an exclusive interview with ESPNsoccernet, Broughton revealed: "Roy knew when he signed up from Fulham that we were in the process of finding new owners, it was not a surprise to him. He was fully reconciled with the possibility there would be an ownership chance and the risk involved with that.

"But Roy is self confident and was, when he signed up, confident he was capable of doing the job at Liverpool. With that in mind provisions were made in Roy's contract to relate specifically to any change in ownership."

The 'break clause' in Hodgson's contract was revealed by ESPNsoccernet this week, although even then there were no hints that a change in manager was being planned immediately.

"I suggested that the clause relates to Hodgson being paid a full year's salary within 28 days should the new owners want to bring in their own manager," Broughton commented: "I don't have Roy's contract in front of me, so I can't comment on that, but it is something like that in his contract.

"But he came to the club knowing full well the circumstances and the risks attached to it."

Hodgson will have to prove himself to the new owners. Broughton added: "I would full expect Roy to continue as manager and there has been no indication to me to suggest otherwise. However, as we all know, at the end of the day, everything depends on results."

Interest In Aabech

Lyngby striker Kim Aabech is being chased by clubs in England, Germany and Holland, according to his agent.

The 27-year-old striker has been with Lyngby since 2005 and has emerged as one of their prized assets,

Aabech, who looks to play behind a main striker, is now being looked at by a number of clubs.

Liverpool were one of the clubs mentioned in Denmark, but his agent Frank Hansen is not taking that too seriously.

"I've read that [Liverpool's interest] but they are probably just a tad too big, but there is great interest in Kim," Hansen told Tipsbladet.

"There are two Danish clubs that have asked about him, and there are clubs in the Championship, and in Holland and Germany who are considering him."

Young Reds Lose At Blackburn

Liverpool's U18s went down to a 3-2 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

The young Reds led at the interval thanks to a strike from Adam Morgan and could have been two ahead had Raheem Sterling's earlier effort not been ruled out for offside.

But the home side hit back after the break with an equalising goal from Jamie MacLaren and then took the lead from the penalty spot after a hotly disputed handball decision.

Things got worse for Rodolfo Borrell's men when Matthew Regan was sent off for the Reds, before MacLaren netted again to give Blackburn a two-goal cushion.

Adam Morgan netted his and Liverpool's second late on, but it wasn't enough to salvage anything from the match - and to compound the Reds' misery Craig Roddan was shown a red card after the final whistle.

Premier League Approves NESV's Liverpool Takeover

The Premier League has given the go-ahead for New England Sports Ventures's proposed takeover of Liverpool.

The group has offered £300m for the club but Reds co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett oppose the sale as they value Liverpool at double NESV's bid.

If the pair manage to block the deal in the High Court, their holding company could face administration, resulting in a nine-point deduction for the club.

The duo must pay major creditors Royal Bank of Scotland £280m by 15 October.

The Premier League statement read: "The Premier League has met with the owners and directors of New England Sports Ventures (NESV) regarding their proposed takeover of Liverpool FC and has received details, in accordance with Premier League rules, of the proposed company and ownership structure as well as the make-up of the new board."

Americans Hicks and Gillett own Liverpool through their Kop Holdings vehicle and the club is its only real asset.

RBS is owed £240m in loans and £40m in fees and, if Hicks and Gillett manage to block the sale in the High Court next week, they would need to repay or refinance the debt to avoid administration.

Under the terms of the NESV deal that was agreed by the Liverpool board, the co-owners stand to lose about £140m.

Should Kop Holdings be placed in administration, the Premier League board, which comprises chief executive Richard Scudamore, chairman Sir Dave Richards and secretary Mike Foster, would then decide whether to dock points.

Premier League rules state the points penalty can be applied if a parent company insolvency is caused by the club's management.

Liverpool are already in the bottom three of the Premier League after a dismal start to the season, amassing only six points from their opening seven games.

An appeal is likely regardless of the High Court ruling, with no outcome likely before the 15 October refinancing deadline set by RBS.

RBS will have the choice to waive their demand for repayment until the legal dispute is finalized, or call in the debt and place the parent company into administration.

Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to enter administration on 26 February and automatically received a nine-point reduction, condemning them to relegation.

In a similar case, West Ham avoided a penalty when their holding company went into administration in 2009 - that is because the east London club was just one of several interests in the portfolio of Icelandic bank Straumur.

However, also in 2009, Southampton were docked 10 points by the Football League after their parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings went into administration, as a League investigation found they were "inextricably linked as one economic entity". That was a decision taken by the Football League rather than the Premier League.

With the Premier League meeting the owners and directors of NESV in the last couple of weeks, league bosses have confirmed that John W Henry and his board have passed recently changed the 'new owners' and directors' test.

However, BBC Sport understands that the Premier League has yet to see a business plan from NESV and is keen to avoid further embarrassment after a succession of takeovers at Portsmouth failed to solve their financial problems.

If for some reason a deal with NESV is scuppered, BBC Sport sources have learned that the Asian consortium that has also tabled a bid for the Merseysiders could then be in a position to proceed.

But there is no hint of concern over NESV's financial muscle.

The Premier statement continued: "The Premier League is satisfied, with the information provided, that the individuals NESV intend to put in place in the event they complete their takeover of Liverpool FC meet the criteria set out in our owners' and directors' test.

"The board of the Premier League will continue working with Liverpool FC in regard to this process, however, we are aware that the formal completion of this takeover is yet to be resolved and it is therefore inappropriate for us to offer any further comment at this time.”

Liverpool Sale May Collapse If Nine Points Are Deducted

The prospective new owners of Liverpool could be discouraged from buying the club if next week's court action fails to force the deal through and the club is then placed into administration, incurring a nine‑point penalty from the Premier League. Sources close to the Liverpool battle said the loss of nine points, which could sink the team into a genuine relegation battle, would mean "the economics of the club are devastated", and New England Sports Ventures might reconsider its position.

It was previously thought that the Premier League would not deduct nine points, its penalty for clubs which go into administration, because the holding company would be in default, not the club. However it emerged yesterday that the league's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, believes that the holding company's administration cannot be entirely separated from the club, and the nine-point penalty would apply.

NESV is not commenting on the Liverpool situation until it is resolved. However, it would be natural, when considering its position, for the consortium to take account of the dramatically changed circumstances Liverpool would be in if the club lost nine points.

The penalty could be imposed next Friday and, with no further Premier League matches having been played, Liverpool would be bottom on minus three points, eight points behind the two clubs immediately above, Wolves and West Ham United, and nine points from safety.

That would be a huge setback for a club still aspiring to be in the top four, not fourth from bottom, making it almost certain, at the very least, that they would not qualify for the Champions League for the second successive season. Financially, that would have a major impact, and relegation a catastrophic one, so new owners might have to contemplate spending more than they planned on new players in January to ensure Premier League survival.

NESV, which owns the Boston Red Sox, has concluded a deal with the Liverpool chairman, Martin Broughton, to buy the club, a takeover which the Premier League approved in principle yesterday. However the consortium, and its majority shareholder, John W Henry, must wait to see whether a high court judge is prepared to declare that Broughton does have the right to sell the club, against the unwavering opposition of the current owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who are fighting to get some money from their exit out of Liverpool.

If Broughton's court action fails, the £237m owed to Royal Bank of Scotland by Hicks's and Gillett's Liverpool holding company, Kop, falls due next Friday, 15 October. Hicks and Gillett, under financial pressure in the US, are expected to fail to pay, and RBS is currently believed likely to put the club into administration, although the scale of the damage that could do to Liverpool might cause the bank to reassess.

"Going into administration needs to be avoided at all costs, as the negative impact would be catastrophic," Broughton said. "Setting aside the nine-point deduction, it would have an impact on Liverpool's value and be wide open to predators, whereas we have what we believe is the right new owners to take the club forward."

The whole prospect of NESV reconsidering its position dramatically increases the importance for Liverpool of Broughton succeeding with next week's court action. He will ask the judge, crucially, to declare that as the chairman, he had the sole right to appoint and remove directors, so keeping his majority on the board, with the managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre. On Tuesday, Hicks attempted to sack those two and replace them with his son, Mack, and Mack's assistant, Lori Kay McCutcheon.

Broughton will also ask for a declaration that Hicks and Gillett cannot block the deal because of undertakings they gave RBS not to obstruct a "reasonable" sale. Hicks argues the deal, which will pay him and Gillett nothing, "dramatically undervalues" Liverpool, so he is fighting to hold out for another deal offering more money.

If Hicks succeeds, Liverpool are expected to be put into administration on Friday, then for RBS to sell the club to NESV for £200m. Yet that would be up for negotiation, and a nine-point penalty could severely affect the outcome.

Red Sox Owners Given Arsenal Tour Ahead Of Anfield Bid

Sport.co.uk can exclusively reveal that the prospective new owners of Liverpool, New England Sports Ventures (NESV), were given a personal tour of Arsenal's Emirates stadium in a bid to learn about the sustainable financial model instigated by the North London club.

NESV, owners of MLB franchise Boston Red Sox, were shown around the Gunners new arena and state-of-the-art London Colney training ground three weeks ago by chief executive Ivan Gazidis as they weighed up their bid for Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Arsenal have been hailed for the successful manner in which they moved from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006, after announcing a desire to move in 1999. The Gunners recorded pre-tax profits of £56 million for the year ending May 31, 2010, with group turnover increasing from £313m to £379.9m. Having recorded a handsome profit on the redevelopment of Highbury into premium real estate, the club also boast an unmatched record for takings on matchdays at their new stadium.

The prospective new owners of Liverpool have promised to free the club from the burden of 'acquisition debt' when they take charge at Anfield. NESV are poised to take control of the ailing Premier League outfit, as soon as a deal can be reached with fellow Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

A statement from NESV read: "NESV wants to create a long-term financially solid foundation for Liverpool FC and is dedicated to ensuring that the club has the resources to build for the future, including the removal of all acquisition debt.

"Our objective is to stabilise the club and ultimately return Liverpool FC to its rightful place in English and European football, successfully competing for and winning trophies.

"Since 2001, New England Sports Ventures has made successful investments in sports and entertainment properties.

"Our portfolio of companies, including the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Roush Fenway Racing are all committed to one common goal: winning.

"NESV wants to help bring back the culture of winning to Liverpool FC.

"We have a proven track record, shown clearly with the Boston Red Sox. The team has won two World Series Championships over the past six years. We will bring the same kind of openness, passion, dedication and professionalism to Liverpool FC.

"We are hopeful with regard to the pending legal and English Premier League procedures now underway, however, in light of these issues, we will respectfully refrain from comment or further actions at this time."

George Gillett’s Role Now Unclear In LFC After Default On £75m Loan

The role of George Gillett in Liverpool Football Club remains unclear as he is in default on a £75m loan he took out to invest in the club.

The loan from Mill Financial, an arm of US hedge fund Springfield Financial Company, should have been paid by the co-owner of the football club.

But it has not been and Mill Financial could take control of his shareholding.

At this stage the company does not appear to be exerting that much influence at Anfield, and has not returned calls from the ECHO, so its intentions are unclear.

Technically, Liverpool view the current legal dispute as a straight fight with Tom Hicks, not Gillett, owing to that £75m loan default.

But despite this debt not being paid, and unconfirmed reports that a US hedge fund took control of his share at Anfield, Gillett carried enough sway to join his co-owner in their attempt to vote Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre off the board during Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting.

For the time being George Gillett remains on the board of Kop Holdings along with co-owner Hicks, chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Purslow, and commercial director Ayre.

When buying Liverpool FC, the Americans set up a complex series of holding companies with an overriding parent company registered in Delaware.

Gillett’s £75m loan from Mill Financial is secured against his 50% share in the Delaware based parent company.

But the £237m RBS debt is secured against Kop Holdings, which sits much further down the line in the hierarchy of holding companies and just one level above Liverpool Football Club company, which ultimately controls the assets of the Reds – the playing squad, stadium, and commercial rights.

As the RBS debt is secured against the company in direct control of LFC it is in the strongest position to be repaid.

The £75m loan from Mill Financial provided the cash that Gillett used to invest in the club and had amounted to his Reds equity.

Liverpool Confident New Owners Can Keep Torres

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton believes new owner John Henry and right-hand man Tom Werner can convince Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard that they have a winning mentality, and they should stick around Anfield to see how far they plan to take the team.

As soon as the owners of the Boston Red Sox are installed and running the club, they plan to meet up with manager Roy Hodgson and his key players to convince them of their vision of turning around Liverpool's on-field fortunes.

There has already been speculation that Torres will head off to Manchester City or Barcelona in the summer after Hodgson's disastrous start to the new season, but Broughton has other ideas. Circling clubs are hoping to take advantage of Liverpool's current problems to capture Torres, and Gerrard remains on the radar of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid and Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan.

Broughton told ESPNsoccernet: "The new owners want to be winners, and Fernando Torres wants to be a winner. They will be well matched. Will Fernando want to stay when he hears what they've got say? Absolutely."

The chairman's plan was to announce the takeover and then engage with all the team to explain to them about the new era at the club. But Broughton explained: "The plan was to get all the players together at the training ground to inform them of events, but then we discovered that most of them had gone off for international duty.

"Christian Purslow has spoken to Jamie Carragher and the few players who have been left. He [Purslow] has also spoken to our manager Roy Hodgson about the ideas and plans of the new owners."

Aquilani Is Fast Improving

Alberto Aquilani is playing with a smile on his face again at Juventus - after his disappointing £20million switch to Liverpool.

The 26-year-old was sent back on-loan to his native country after failing to set Anfield alight following his record move from Roma last summer.

Aquilani did not start the first four games of the campaign for Luigi Del Neri's team but has now gained a place in the starting line up.

"The team is gradually improving. The same applies to me and I'm happy," Aquilani told Sky Italia.

"Juve is a team that has changed a lot and as I said when I joined them, it will take time for the team to show its true potential.

"It was not something that I liked but it was the coach's decision.

"The fact is that Juve gave me the opportunity to return to Italy and I took that chance.

"It was not an easy decision because Juve have great midfielders and I knew the competition would be tough."

Signed by former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, their paths crossed when Aquilani played against Inter Milan last weekend.

He added: "It was nice to see him again. Despite a difficult year for both of us (at Liverpool), I had a good rapport with him.

"We spoke a little bit about Liverpool."

The issue of the Liverpool ownership is something that has not escaped the attention of the Italian following their proposed sale this week, but he admits his future is no clearer.

"I don't know if the club's sale will help Juve or Liverpool with respect to getting my services back," he explained.

"But whatever happens, the English club has meant a crucial move for my career."

Liverpool 'Exerting Strong Pressure' On Valencia Over Juan Mata

Perhaps in anticipation of New England Sports Ventures' proposed £300m takeover of Liverpool eventually going through, the Reds are reportedly planning for January purchases.

According to the Spanish daily Super Deporte, Valencia winger Juan Mata is firmly in Reds boss Roy Hodgson’s sights.

The paper claims that Liverpool have been “exerting strong pressure” on the La Liga leaders over the player.

It follows rumours that Liverpool could use Ryan Babel as a makeweight in a deal for the winger.

Mata averages a goal or assist every 105.5 minutes this season.

He is contracted to Valencia until 2012 and is valued at €20M-30M

Reds Chasing Four New Players

Liverpool scout Jakob Friis-Hansen has hinted the club are looking to bring in four new players in the January transfer window.

The Reds are currently embroiled in a takeover saga, with the boardroom split over a decision to sell and a High Court appearance needed next week to settle matters between owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, and board members Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre and chairman Martin Broughton.

Dane Friis-Hansen is currently in his homeland after watching Lyngby's clash with FC Nordsjaelland, where he was thought to be watching young trio Kim Aabech, Lasse Rise and Emil Larsen in action.

However, Friis-Hansen denied he was interested in the players and had just visited the club to see an old friend, admitting in the process that he is looking for several first-team players to join the ranks at Anfield.

"I played with an old friend in Lyngby and have many good friends at the club, and because you have seen me up there, it does not mean that I am interested in their players. It is not what we need now," Friis-Hansen told bold.dk.

"The results are now important in Liverpool, it is first priority to get four prominent players in the next window for the first team. Players who can go into the starting line-up.

"Roy (Hodgson) will hopefully get some money to work with. I will work in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Holland and will this year also be going to Spain for Liverpool and it is solely for the first team.

"It is a shame for Roy to get such a start, for there is no doubt that he is a really good coach. But it has been a tough start, because you did not know and still do not know what will happen with the club financially.

"I can hopefully go out and look at players in the highest price category at a time. But we will see."

Reds To Open Belfast Store

Liverpool Football Club are delighted to announce plans to open their fifth official club store in Belfast.

Opening in early November 2010, the store will be located on Castle Lane, in the heart of Belfast's retail district.

The store will cover 2000 sq. ft. and will stock a wide range of official club merchandise.

Lee Dwerryhouse, Head of Retail at Liverpool Football Club, believes Belfast is the right city to host the Club's first store away from home territory. "As a city Belfast has many parallels with Liverpool and the Club's fan base in the city is huge," he said.

"Our fans in Belfast are extremely passionate and their loyalty to the club is unbelievable. I am delighted we have been able to reward that loyalty and passion with our first store outside of the north west of England.

"We considered many sites for our next store but all the signs kept pointing back to Belfast. This store signals the start of an expansion strategy that will see a host of official Club stores opening outside of Liverpool over the next few years."

An opening date for the store is yet to be confirmed but a launch event featuring exclusive promotions and a number of special guests is planned.

Broughton Eyes Profitable Future

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has aimed a swipe at Manchester City, saying his club's prospective new owners will provide a profitable future at Anfield.

The Reds have agreed in principle to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures, but co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are trying to block the deal.

The takeover battle is set to be resolved in the High Court next week with Liverpool hopeful a deal with NESV, who also own the Boston Red Sox, will be pushed through.

Broughton believes prospective new owner John Henry will provide 'rational' leadership at Liverpool and that the club will be in position for the new Uefa fair play regulations, which are set to come into effect in 2012.

"A hugely important aspect for Liverpool is [Uefa's] financial fair play rules. They come into effect pretty damn soon, and will have a massive effect on many, many clubs," Broughton said.

"Taking a rational, commercial approach to success is absolutely the right way forward, and that is what New England will do. They have demonstrated that already in their model at Boston.

"I couldn't help notice that Manchester City's wage bill for last year was exceeding its revenue. That is going to be very difficult under financial fair play. They might be able to sort it out before then but we were not looking for someone who was going to put us in that position.

"We were looking for somebody who was going to see this as a commercial business that can be commercially successful. That is what they have already demonstrated. They have made a profit by investing heavily in players and stadium development and they have delivered a winning team."

Broughton insists NESV's approach is the right one for the future and that funds will be made available to bolster the playing ranks.

Broughton added: "We weren't looking for an Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour, because we understand a rational commercial approach is the way forward in football now.

"New England's bid of around £300m will include £200m in equity to write down the acquisition debt, as we call it, the legacy of Hicks and Gillett, and there is £40m of cash to pay off various other liabilities.

"The balance is what we call assuming the ongoing working capital debt and the new stadium financing debt, and it means there will be no debt on the club, and Liverpool will actually be equity rich. The aim was always zero debt.

"Why? Because that will allow trading without debt, and vast profits coming available again to invest in the business instead of servicing loans. New England are fully committed to that, they are committed to investing heavily in players and infrastructure to boost future profits."

Liverpool's Potential New Owners To Hold Talks With Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina & Fernando Torres

Liverpool's prospective new owners are believed to be in line to hold face-to-face talks with skipper Steven Gerrard, goalkeeper Pepe Reina and striker Fernando Torres if and when a takeover is completed.

The club is currently the subject of a £300 million takeover by New England Sports Ventures, but the current co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are attempting to block the sale as they deem the price too low.

A boardroom battle followed with the controversial Americans trying to get rid of two of their board members in the hope of putting a stop to the process. But the matter of the sale is expected to be resolved in the High Court.

In the meantime, The Mirror reports that the potential new owners will make the retention of the club's stars as their top priority following a takeover, as one-to-one talks with Gerrard, Reina and Torres have been planned.

In light of the possible change in ownership of the Merseyside club, Spirit of Shankly - a Reds fangroup - spokesman James McKenna told Goal.com UK that it is "absolutely vital" that the prospective new owners speak to fans concerning their plans for the future.

And it is now claimed that the potential owners will not only speak to fans, but will also offer them representation on the board to voice their concerns.

Fuller Roles Planned For Dalglish And Fans' Figurehead

The roles of Kenny Dalglish and fans' leader Rogan Taylor will be high on the agenda of the new American owners, ESPNsoccernet can exclusively reveal.

As they wait for the legal battle to play out in court, New England Sports Ventures' (NESV) top brass, led by founder John W Henry, are busy planning the first days of their new regime. Henry and his team are keen to understand as much as they can about all the players in the Liverpool drama, knowing that first impressions will be very important when they arrive on Merseyside.

One of the key issues for Liverpool's potential new owners is how they engage with the fans and the local community from day one. NESV are extremely savvy businessmen who are acutely aware of the need to conduct themselves in a different manner from that of Hicks and Gillett.

An insider told ESPNsoccernet: "How best to engage the fans is always going to be a delicate issue after Hicks and Gillett, but it is nonetheless a major issue and one of great importance."

To that end, they are already thinking about how best to begin listening to local ideas and concerns as they look to develop their plans for the Club.

Kenny Dalglish is one figure whose views they will doubtless seek. Rogan Taylor, leading local academic and head of ShareLiverpool, the group promoting fan involvement at board level, is another who may have a role to play.

"We have to remember Liverpool fans will never greet with open arms any incoming owner because they have been badly burned once,'' Rogan Taylor told the Daily Telegraph. Taylor's group can potentially bring the prospect of additional investment to the table. He said: "I think I can get 100,000 Liverpool fans to write out cheques for £500 each if they can guarantee they won't be shafted again.''

What Taylor might get for his putative £50 million remains to be seen. It is far too early to say whether there is a realistic prospect of the additional cash being deliverable or of it buying the fans anything as tangible as a seat on the board.

However, the potential new owners will arrive in Liverpool very much in listening mode. They know that it is vital not to promise too much and then fail to deliver and they want to make sure that they can build solid long-term relationships with supporters groups.

The role of Dalglish in the new regime, and how best to engage the fan base in a real and workable way, is a key issue. Dalglish is seen as a marginal figure within the Tom Hicks/George Gillett ownership, though he is an ambassador and Head of Football Development for the club.

Hicks and Gillett arrived at Anfield with plenty of hype about engaging the fans, but never attracted any warmth to say the least.

The NESV team understands how their fellow Americans failed to embrace the fan base as positively as they should have done, and how an icon like Dalglish is part of the fan culture of Anfield. It is also intriguing to note Dalglish's view that renovating Anfield should not be dismissed in the quest to build a new £400 million stadium which might be out of the financial reach of the club.