Hicks - Buyers are interested

• ASKL!

  1 Jun 10, 12:41

   

  

  Hicks: Says there is interest in Reds

   Tom Hicks has insisted that there are plenty of "interested buyers" as he and George Gillett look to sell the club.

  It has been a turbulent few years at Anfield since the American buyers took over from David Moores, saddling the club with debts amounting up over £350million and annual loan repayments of £40million.

  Gillett and Hicks decided they were selling up in April after a breakdown in relations with manager Rafa Benitez and supporters alike, claiming a figure between £600million to £800m to be enough to take their ownership.

  With the appointment of Martin Broughton as chairman, brought in as a go-between for Gillett, Hicks and the buyers, it appears their asking price is being met with little interest.

  Moores has been the latest in a long line to demand a quick sale of the club, but Hicks stood by the asking price, stating that there were a lot of investors willing to purchase the Reds, though it could take a year to 18 months to finalise the process.

  Big universe

  "Liverpool has a really big universe of interested buyers," said Hicks.

  "There are a number of wealthy people all over the world, particularly in the

  Middle East and Asia, who are enormous Liverpool fans."

  Hicks also admitted that he was finished with sports franchises following the sale of Liverpool, with the former owner of the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars stating he would go back to concentrating on his private businesses.

  "Sports has never been my primary business," Hicks told Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

  "We are systematically selling our sports assets to focus on our core businesses like private equity and real estate.

  "The lack of privacy in sports is something that my family and I aren't willing to undertake any longer.

  "We'll always be big fans but we want our privacy back."

   

  Dalglish

  Former Liverpool striker and ambassador at the club Kenny Dalglish was also adamant that the club would not go backwards, even with star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard rumoured to be seeking a move away from the club.

  "Liverpool FC is much more important than any one individual - it always has been and always will be," said Dalglish.

  "It will move forwards and move upwards.

  "It is not the greatest time in the club's history at this time but I don't think they will start to go backwards."