The End of Hicks and Gillett??
Liverpool’s warring co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have agreed to split up for the good of the club.
In a significant change of policy, Hicks has decided to no longer stand in the way of Gillett if he wants to sell his 50 per cent stake to Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia or another investor.
The shift in attitude from Hicks — who can veto any plans Gillett has to sell up — will be welcomed by Liverpool fans, who have seen the club placed in gridlock because of conflict between the owners.
But Hicks who, unlike Gillett, remains a supporter of manager Rafa Benitez, has told Prince Faisal and other prospective owners he intends to retain his own 50 per cent stake.
A source close to Hicks said: ‘Tom would be open to considering someone interested in buying George Gillett’s shares, but is still committed himself longterm. Rafa also has Tom’s full support as manager.
‘He sees the early defeats this season as a wake-up call but believes the Premier League is more competitive in general this season.
‘Despite losing at Chelsea, he is consoling himself with the fact they still have to come to Anfield.’
Prince Faisal has been to Anfield this season as Gillett’s guest and is weighing up a £200million bid to buy his half of the club despite reservations over the levels of debt.
Ideally however, the Saudi billionaire would prefer to own the club outright.
Liverpool have lurched from one crisis to another since Hicks and Gillett bought the club in 2007. The promised new stadium at Stanley Park has been delayed and Hicks held Gillett responsible for setting up a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann as a possible replacement for Benitez.
Hicks blocked Gillett’s attempts to sell his stake to a Dubai company in 2008 but now understands Liverpool can no longer move forward while their partnership resembles a broken marriage.
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simba
17 Oct, 2009
How true is any of this news?! This Saudi prince does not want to take on debt so if he bought George’s stake will Tom take responsibility for it all?
Karl
17 Oct, 2009
Hi Simba, it’s a very good question, the one thing for sure is that we need to get Gillett and Hicks out and even if the Saudi Prince doesn’t buy Gilletts stake at least we know that he’s started the ball rolling to get out of the club which can only be a good sign.
Then with one gone and the fact that Hicks cannot fund the buyout of Gillett, for me, means it’s only a matter of time before Hicks follows the same road.
It’s clear that we have no money and our squad depth is too weak and sooner or later we are going to need someone to come in and provide the funds to keep us play at the same level as the big boys and i’m pretty sure that Hicks and Gillett know this.