Liverpool counts the cost of Hicks and Gillett

Liverpool counts the cost of Hicks and Gillett

Here's a quiz question that will he popular on Merseyside in years to come, said Patrick Collins in The Mail on Sunday: "Name the American businessmen who took just three years to reduce one of the world's greatest football clubs to a laughing stock." The answer? Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The much-maligned duo bought Liverpool in 2007 for £219m. Now, having saddled the club with £237m of debt, they have put it up for sale. Astonishingly, "Tom and George are expecting to emerge from their three tumultuous years with hearts light and pockets reassuringly heavy". Their asking price is £400m, which would give each man an £80m profit on his original investment.

Their problem will be finding a buyer prepared to splash out that kind of cash, said Rory Smith in The Sunday Telegraph.


Unofficial talks about a Liverpool takeover have already taken place on two recent occasions - with Dubai Investment Capital and the Kuwaiti Al-Kharafi family. Each time, Hicks and GiHere's over-inflated asking price "proved prohibitive". The Americans claim that, under their tenure, revenues at Anfield have increased by 55%, commercial income by 83% and operating profit by 60%. That may be true, but it still sets the value of the club at about £295m. And, given that it looks increasingly unlikely that Liverpool will qualify for next season's Champions League, that price could go down. The club's wonderful supporters deserve better, said Rod Liddle in The Sunday Times. They can only pray that somebody will rid them of these "right-wing
Yankee levcraged-buyour monkeys". Find the right owner, with money to spend on decent players, and "Liverpool could be the team to watch next season".