Liverpool to be sold – The Sunday Times

(GSM) – Barclays will invest £300 million to refinance at Liverpool, a fact which will lead to the sale of the Premier League club, according to The Sunday Times.

The newspaper said the bank is finalizing a deal which will make them the club’s lenders. They will then provide more funds for manager Rafael Benitez to spend on players and install
British Airways chairman Martin Broughton as club chairman.

According to the paper, Barclays Capital had been hired to find a buyer for the club which is currently owned by American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The club has £237m debts and its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, have demanded £100m by July.

The Sunday Times said Barclays, the main sponsor of the Premier League, will replace the two lenders.

According to banking sources, Broughton will be responsible for refinancing. Broughton and Barclays Capital are both trying to find a new owner.

“Broughton is the kind of international business figure who will be able to bring in the standard of bidders Liverpool should attract,” one source told The Sunday Times.

Benitez had said Liverpool need to bring in more players to compete next season and may have to sell to buy.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s four or five or three or five, the cost of a top class player is £15m or £20m. So with three or four players, you start counting and I think we need up to four new
players,” he said in The People.

“I don’t think I will have to sell a big player, but it will depend on the investors so I cannot guarantee we won’t have to sell. Our idea is to keep the spine of the team”