English Premier League giant Liverpool F.C. was reportedly on the brink of being sold today after two new bids for the club were tabled, one bid reportedly coming from the owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Cash-strapped American duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett put Liverpool up for sale in April, with the duo keen to end their association if a buyer could be found to meet their $953.4 million (£600 million) asking price.
That figure has so far prevented any meaningful progress in takeover discussions, with Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi the latest to withdraw his interest earlier Tuesday. Hicks and Gillett need to find a buyer before October 15 to repay $448 million (£282 million) of loans to the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.
RBS is poised to take control of Liverpool if the ownership is unable to find a buyer before the deadline. The bank would then sell the club themselves to recoup its cash.
It is understood that Liverpool’s board and chairman Martin Broughton were in favor of recommending both of the new bids for consideration after a meeting Tuesday, but that the plan was met with disagreement from the owners. One bid is reportedly from New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Red Sox. The other bid is being linked to Asia, sources told Sky.
Hicks and Gillett have become increasingly unpopular among Liverpool’s fan base, with supporters blaming the two for the club’s current fall from grace. The disappointment of last season’s miserable seventh-place English Premier League finish has intensified this term with Rafa Benitez’s replacement Roy Hodgson unable to stop the downward slide. The club currently sits 18th in the Premier League.
Observers say it remains to be seen how supporters of the five-time European champion would react to another U.S.-based ownership group after their current experience of American ownership.
