Chief promise Boss lots of $$$ to splash
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We'll give Rafa Benitez cash to splash, says new Liverpool chief Martin Broughton
Cautious: Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez
Rafa Benitez gave a cautious welcome to a potential change of ownership at Anfield yesterday and revealed he wants urgent talks with new chairman Martin Broughton.
After being installed to supervise the eagerly awaited end of Tom Hicks’s and George Gillett’s Liverpool reign, Broughton sought to reassure Benitez over his future and made a bold pledge that transfer funds would be available.
With a £16million, four-year contract awaiting his signature at Juventus, the Liverpool manager intends putting both issues to the test in the next few days.
‘I have not met the new chairman yet or spoken to him, but I will,’ he said.
‘I don’t know exactly when, but it will be sooner rather than later, because it is important for a manager and chairman to talk.
‘It is clear we have to get together and talk about everything. It is normal to want to cover all subjects and it can be good to have just one person on hand to answer all your questions.
‘I don’t know whether money will be available at the end of the season. I don’t know his agenda yet but I hope that is the case and it is something that will be part of our conversation.
'If he has said he wants me to stay and there will be money, that is good. But I need to meet him to find out.’
Benitez produced a plate of cakes and pastries to mark his 50th birthday and was in a jovial mood as he smiled: ‘I’m an old man now — it’s official.’
Selling up: George Gillett (L) and Tom Hicks
It could almost have been an unintentional admission that working for Hicks and Gillett had put years on him, but he was wary of celebrating the end of a troubled chapter, just as he remained guarded about Juve’s efforts to prise him away.
Mindful there could be a long gap between confirming the arrival of Broughton and Barclays Capital and bidding farewell to Hicks and Gillett, Benitez said: ‘Always, we have to be positive and believe things will improve.
'I would like to think it is true when people say this is good news, but my experience is that it is better to wait and see.
‘All our fans agree that we need to see signs of progress. There has been talk of new investment for a while but now there is one person everything can be channelled through.
'When I sit down with him, I will explain my ideas and see if we can go forward quickly.
In the hotseat: Martin Broughton
‘Everyone sees this as a step in the right direction but the next stage must be completed as quickly as possible. Stability is always a key word in any business, and football is no different.
'It would help us all if a satisfactory conclusion can be reached soon.’
Asked if he would be dishing out slices of birthday cake at Melwood in 12 months’ time, Benitez gave a knowing grin and said: ‘Hopefully, I will still be here on Monday when we play West Ham.
'I don’t want to say too much about my future, because there has been a lot of speculation already.
‘My agent is supposed to have made an admission in a Spanish paper (about meeting Juventus officials). But if you talk about the press here or in Spain or Italy, they are not always the same.
'Sometimes things are said that are not true. Even if there were quotes, you cannot always believe them.
‘I wanted to be Liverpool manager in the past, and I still want to be. I actually want to manage until I’m 70 or even 80. Where? You never know in football.’
Chelsea fan Broughton, who admitted horse-racing was his main sporting passion, backed Benitez and insisted there would be no cashing in on Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres at the end of the season.
Staying? Fernando Torres
He said: ‘I can’t see any reason for any forced sales. In fact, there will be money available for transfers, though I am not going into how much.
‘What’s best now is for somebody or bodies to come in and build the new stadium, make sure the club is properly financed and that there is enough money available to take the club forward.
'I have looked at the stadium project, and any buyer would be crazy not to proceed with it. Any bid wouldn’t be a winning one without that commitment.’
Hicks and Gillett paid around £220m for Liverpool in 2007 and initially set an asking price of £500m, which now looks like having to be lowered.
Broughton insisted there was no deadline for repaying £100m of the club’s £237m debt and that RBS were prepared to wait for the sale to go through.
He said the Americans were seeking a ‘reasonable price’ and added: ‘Rafa is a good manager. We want him to stay and he’s under contract.’
Torres is still waiting to return to Spain for a verdict on his knee injury after flights were grounded, because of the Icelandic volcano.
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seriously hope these guys do what they say.