Liverpool’s board confirm two ‘excellent’ bids

The board of English Premier League club Liverpool confirmed on Tuesday they have received “two excellent financial offers” to buy the club.

The offers came on a day that also saw owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett attempt to remove two senior figures from the club’s board of directors.

The American owners are under pressure to sell the club with an October 15 deadline for the repayment of their 282-million-pounds loans from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.

Liverpool confirmed they had received two offers that would repay the club’s debt, but also revealed that Hicks and Gillett had attempted to oust managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre from the board prior to a meeting held earlier to review the two bids.

A statement on the club website read: “The Board of Directors have received two excellent financial offers to buy the club that would repay all its long-term debt. A board meeting was called today (Tuesday) to review these bids and approve a sale.

“Shortly prior to the meeting, the owners – Tom Hicks and George Gillett – sought to remove Managing Director Christian Purslow and Commercial Director Ian Ayre from the Board, seeking to replace them with Mack Hicks and Lori Kay McCutcheon.

“This matter is now subject to legal review and a further announcement will be made in due course.

“Meanwhile Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre continue to explore every possible route to achieving a sale of the Club at the earliest opportunity.”

Sky Sports reported that one of the bids has come from the owners of the Boston Red Sox with the other from Asia.

The Red Sox are run by New England Sports Ventures, a group headed by John William Henry II and Tom Werner.

Liverpool were put up for sale by the unpopular Hicks and Gillett in April, who initially sought an asking price of around 800 million pounds, a figure that they subsequently dropped to 600 million.

That figure has so far failed to find a taker with Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi the latest to withdraw his interest earlier on Tuesday.

Hicks and Gillett have become increasingly unpopular on Merseyside with supporters blaming the duo for Liverpool’s fall from grace.

The disappointment of last season’s seventh-place finish has intensified this term with Rafa Benitez’s replacement Roy Hodgson unable to lift the team.

The Reds exited the League Cup at home to League Two Northampton on penalties before going down 2-1 to newly-promoted Blackpool at Anfield on Sunday.