The power struggle at Liverpool is set to account for Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres, a report claims.
In a move that will certainly add to the despair among Liverpool fans, Tom Hicks is set to gain sole control of the Anfield club and thus delay its sale by two more years, possibly triggering the departures of key players Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres.
Despite Liverpool fans’ contempt towards him, Tom Hicks is on the verge of striking a £280 million deal with the Blackstone/GSO Group to buy out partner George Gillett, according to a report in The News of the World.
Hicks told the Reds’ board that the refinancing agreement will be signed by October 1, a move that will give the American until 2012 to find a buyer.
And in a detail that will deeply concern the club's fans, the GSO deal does not include any cash injection for transfer deals or plans to build a new stadium.
Hicks delivered the news in a three-hour board meeting in London on Wednesday.
One point that may still block his plans is Gillett’s past insistence that a deal should include plans for cash to be invested in new players and a new stadium.
But with Gillett allegedly defaulting on his own loan to RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland), he has been forced to concede a degree of power to his business partner.
Meanwhile, Hicks told chairman Martin Broughton that he will not accept selling the club for the value of its debt (£282m).
Broughton was appointed in April at the request of RBS as a condition for the bank extending its loan to the two American co-owners for a further six months. He previously said his objective was to find a new owner willing to wipe out the club's debt and build a new stadium.
But there has been no formal bid for the club since the sale process began, and Hicks believes that gives him the legal right to pursue the GSO deal.
Despite intense speculation at the time, neither Chinese businessman Kenny Huang nor Syrian Yahya Kirdi made formal offers for the shares of Hicks and Gillett.
The Texan thinks the involvement of Blackstone would attract investors in the future. However, club sources are unconvinced that, after failing to sell the club for a high valuation, Hicks will succeed in doing so two years from now.
There has been a legal battle on this issue since June and a court hearing looks destined to decide the future of the Merseyside club.
It is unlikely that the club would attract investors in two years’ time as consecutive seasons without Champions League football would only hinder the club’s financial progress and status.
Players such as Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina have publicly demanded a change of ownership, and the fear now is that if Hicks succeeds in gaining sole control at Anfield it may well signal the end of the highly-rated Spanish pair's time with Liverpool.
Permission for the new arena on Stanley Park will have expired by September 2011, and the GSO deal will increase the interest rates on the rising debt.
Blackstone’s chief executive, Schwarzman – a friend of Hicks – is worth an estimated £3bn and many have concluded that Hicks has successfully convinced an old pal to help him out in a troubled time.
"A few weeks ago we were saying Hicks needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat," a Kop source told Sport of the World.
"It seems he's pulled out one of the biggest, wealthiest rabbits in Wall Street."
James McKenna, spokesman for Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool Supporters' Union, expects fans to react angrily to any attempt by Hicks to keep control of the club.
"This is the latest in an on-going soap opera but we don't want either Hicks or Gillett involved in the club and these plans will be met with the fiercest of protests," he told BBC Sport. "These reports are a worry."
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