Liverpool board won’t be rushed into selling club
LIVERPOOL managing director Christian Purslow concedes the club needs to be sold urgently but has warned they will not be pressured into rushing a deal.
Chinese businessman Kenny Huang and Syrian Yahya Kirdi have both held discussions about buying the Reds from American pair Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
But doubts have been raised about their ability to prove they have the funds in place to purchase the Anfield outfit, who have debts of more than £280m.
And Purslow said yesterday: “We have had a number of bids for the club. We will take time to examine those extremely carefully. Second to that is to sell the club as soon as possible.
“We will make sure we take our time. I am not going to put a time limit on it. The challenge now is to sort the wheat from the chaff.
“I would not expect it to be a lifetime – but I would not expect it to be tomorrow either. We have just received some written bids at this stage, and it would be wrong to characterise anybody as a front-runner.”
Purslow declined to comment on suggestions that Royal Bank of Scotland, to whom Hicks and Gillett owe £237m, are preparing to take over the club amid growing fears a buyer will not be found. RBS denied the claim, a spokesperson saying the bank “continues to have confidence in the sale process”.
Hicks and Gillett face a bill for an extra £60m if they do not sell the club by 6 October, when their loan to RBS is due to be repaid. It had been hoped the club could find a buyer before the new season but a solution still looks some way off. Hicks and Gillet are thought to be asking for £800m, a price tag that has so far proved prohibitive.