The Liverpool FC Society

Manchester United Gary Neville is set for an almighty ribbing from his Manchester United team-mates after his luxury car had to be towed away when he put petrol in the diesel motor.
Those good old boys at The Sun were on hand to see the much derided full-back pump £60 worth of petrol into his £100,000 Audi Q7 near his home in Bolton.

When he then tried to start the car, the engine cut out, meaning that Neville had to get it towed away by a recovery firm.

He also had to call his father, the fantastically named Neville Neville, to arrange a lift while his motor was out of action.

As one of those famous Sun onlookers quipped: "Everyone laughed because Gary has a reputation for being serious and he was left looking dozy."

World of Sport would also like to offer some kudos to the Sun sub-editors for their rather brilliant 'Bit fuelish, Neville' headline.

Neville is now 35, but last April penned a one-year extension to his Manchester United contract.

The 35-year-old joins fellow United stalwarts Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in prolonging their playing days at the club where they began their careers.

Liverpool have witnessed a twist in their takeover saga after the emergance of reports that a consortium of Arab and Canadian businessmen are in advanced discussions with the Premier League club.

Kenny Huang was thought to be in pole position to buyout American duo George Gillett and Tom Hicks at Anfield, and Sky Sports News reported on Tuesday that the Chinese tycoon had made a formal offer.

But now a group containing investors from the Middle East and Canada, fronted by former Syria international Yahya Kirdi, are said to be finalising a purchase price, repayment of debt and financing for Liverpool's planned new stadium in Stanley Park.

Co-owner Gillett is understood to have introduced Kirdi, a Unicef representative, to senior Anfield staff and the Royal Bank of Scotland, to which the club owes a reported £250million.

Sky Sports News have quoted Kirdi as saying: "Liverpool is a massive football club with passionate and proud fans in Merseyside and in every part of the world.

"With additional money to improve the squad and financing in place to build the new stadium, Liverpool will be on a solid foundation to compete in the Premiership and in Europe for years to come."

Gillett and Hicks put Liverpool up for sale in May and appointed Martin Broughton as chairman to oversee the process and Barclays Capital has been hired to assist.

Liverpool also received a major boost on Tuesday when star striker Fernando Torres confirmed that he wanted to stay at the club.

Stuttgart claim to have agreed personal terms with defender Philipp Degen after he was told he can leave Liverpool, while the Bundesliga club have also settled a deal with Andre Ayew.

Full-back Degen was informed by Roy Hodgson in the wake of the new manager's arrival at Anfield that he did not feature in his first-team plans and that he was free to look for a new club.

Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart acted quickly and former Borussia Dortmund player Degen is interested in a return to Germany, meaning a deal will now need to be agreed with Liverpool.

Marseille winger Ayew has also decided on personal terms but, according to Stuttgart's director, Jochen Schneider, the French club want to keep the Ghana international.

Schneider told BILD: "We have reached an agreement with the player (Degen). The player wants to join our club.

"It is the same with Ayew, the player wants to move to us. However, Marseille are keen to keep him and have offered him a new contract in time.

The Canada-based businessman released a statement through his public relations company recently, claiming that he is in "advanced negotiations" with the current owners concerning a complete buyout.

"Yahya Kirdi, who represents a select group of investors from the Middle East and Canada, confirmed today that his group is in advanced negotiations with Thomas Hicks and George Gillett, co-owners of Liverpool Football Club, to purchase 100 per cent of the club," the statement read.

"Agreement has been reached on all major terms including the purchase price, repayment of the existing bank debt from RBS and Wells Fargo and financing of a new stadium in Liverpool’s Stanley Park. A formal purchase agreement between the parties is in the final stage of negotiation.

"Mr. Kirdi is a resident of Canada and a former Syrian national football team player who oversees investments in Europe and North America on behalf of his investor group."

In anticipation of a potentially imminent takeover, Kirdi maintained that there would be additional funding to develop the squad, and also promised to have the money in place to begin work on Stanley Park - a new stadium that the current owners failed to deliver.

"Liverpool is a massive football club with passionate and proud fans in Merseyside and in every part of the world," he noted.

"With additional money to improve the squad and financing in place to build the new stadium, Liverpool will be on a solid foundation to compete in the Premiership and in Europe for years to come."

Huang set to give Hodgson £150m vote of confidence

Tony Barrett, Tony Evans
Updated 21 minutes ago

Roy Hodgson will keep his job as Liverpool manager and be handed £150 million to spend on new players if the Chinese Government’s bid to buy the club proves successful.

As revealed in The Times today, Kenny Huang, the Hong Kong-based businessman, is fronting the bid by China Investment Corporation (CIC), the overseas investment arm of the Chinese Government. A formal offer has still to be lodged, but although there is interest from other parties, Huang — backed by the wealth of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world — is believed to be the front-runner to complete a purchase.

CIC is prepared to back Hodgson by bankrolling a number of high-profile signings and has made a commitment to build a new stadium.

Liverpool are also attracting interest from the Rhône Group, the New York-based fund management firm, and the al-Kharafi family from Kuwait. Yahya Kirdi, a Canadian-based businessman from Syria, claimed yesterday that he is close to finalising a deal, but it is understood that he is negotiating only with George Gillett Jr, the club’s co-owner, and has not been involved with RBS, which holds Liverpool’s £237 million debt, or Barclays Capital, the investment bank overseeing the sale.

After his appointment as the successor to Rafael Benítez in July, Hodgson said that the possibility of a takeover had been a factor in discussions before he signed a three-year contract and revealed that clauses had been inserted in the deal affording him financial protection in the event of new owners deciding to replace him as manager.

The Chinese, though, have no desire to dispose of the 62-year-old, who insists that the situation has not prevented him from going about his job in the right manner.

“I knew when I came to the club that a takeover may or may not come about, that it may come about quickly or it may take a lot of time,” Hodgson said. “But I was given assurances that I would be allowed to do the job in the right way and that’s certainly been the case since I’ve been here.”

Asked would it be easier for the club to plan ahead under new owners, he said: “That’s for sure. But I don’t want to go down the ownership route because I don’t know enough about it, apart from knowing that, at the moment, unfortunately the owners we have are very unpopular with the fans. They know it and that is why they are prepared to sell the club.”

Hodgson takes charge of Liverpool at Anfield for the first time tonight when his team take a 2-0 lead into the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round tie with Rabotnicki, of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The manager is not willing to allow either himself or his players to hide behind the uncertainty surrounding the club, and insists that they must be masters of their own fortune.

Fernando Torres, who pledged his commitment to Liverpool yesterday, had recently called on the club to match his ambition by signing “four or five” top-class players, but Hodgson says that it is the responsibility of those already at the club to shape the future.

“As a player you have the chance to change things,” Hodgson said. “If you don’t think the team is doing as well as it should, as a player you can do something about it. If you are a big player, maybe you will. My attitude is that we want our big players because they are big players and they will help the team to win.

“Now if they are not playing well and not helping the team to win, I will be advising them to look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere and blame the owners for not having spent £500 million.

“I am just sceptical about comments where players are questioning the club’s ambition.”

• China investment fund sold shares worth £351.4m
• Sum is equivalent to Anfield club's debt

Anfield Liverpool's ownership has been the target of increasing speculation over the last few days.

The Chinese government fund represented by Kenny Huang has spent the past fortnight raising precisely the amount of cash required to finance a bid for Liverpool. Sources have confirmed to Digger that the China Investment Corporation, the sovereign wealth fund to the world's most populous nation, is the organisation being fronted by Huang, who yesterday admitted interest in bidding for Liverpool.

In a series of trades since 19 July, CIC has sold $558m of shares in Morgan Stanley, equating to £351.4m. That sum is equivalent to Liverpool's debt to the nearest decimal place, and is exactly the number insiders say has been quoted to interested parties as the sale price.

China Daily, the English-language arm of the Chinese state media, reported yesterday: "China Investment Corp, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund that bought a 9.9% stake in Morgan Stanley in 2007, sold $90.5m of shares in the investment bank on 30 July, bringing the total amount divested in the last two weeks to about $558m."

Although sovereign wealth funds have enormous values of assets under management, cash is generally tied up in equity and bond markets. This requires liquidation by share sales before major new investments can be made. It is therefore hugely significant that the £351.4m number is also equivalent to Liverpool's debt, suggesting that CIC is shifting its assets ahead of an offer for the five-times European Cup winners.

It also indicates that despite the ambitions of the Anfield club's chairman, Martin Broughton, to generate a return for Tom Hicks and George Gillett, China is refusing to reward them for their three-and-a half-year ownership of the club. The Americans' capacity to dictate terms is further reduced by the fact that there are few other credible bidders preparing to compete with Huang and CIC.

Even those involved in the sale process have dismissed the announcement yesterday from Yahya Kirdi, the former Syrian footballer with business links in Canada, of his intention to compete with Huang for Liverpool. Kirdi has previously talked of his interest but is said not to have meaningfully pursued it, but his interest could raise the price that current owners are looking for. The Rhone Group has also re-emerged as a possible interested party. But although it is regarded as being financially capable of mounting a bid, the private equity firm has come to the table before, having looked at a minority-stake investment in March. But it did not go through with the deal.

Huang confirmed for the first time yesterday he had contacted Liverpool's brokers in the sale – who together are Broughton and Barclays's investment-banking division, Barcap – to "register interest". He did state he "has made no formal bid", however CIC's cash-raising exercise demonstrates it is in a position to make an approach at any time.

In that event the red half of Merseyside might be concerned about the impact of direct investment from the Chinese government in their club. But in anticipation of negative reaction to its world-wide investment activities, CIC's website states: "CIC strives to contribute to the prosperity and development of local economies.

It adds: "CIC usually does not seek an active role in the companies in which it invests nor attempts to influence those companies' operations. CIC seeks long-term, stable, sustainable, and risk-adjusted return."

Although the message of prudence, at a time when CIC's dumping of £531.4m of Morgan Stanley shares has conspicuously not generated any money for transfer activity, might dishearten fans, it should not be interpreted as a lack of team investment. CIC would be purchasing a debt-free club and would be capable of taking out smaller, more affordable loans to finance team strengthening this summer.

And after the years of chaos associated with the unsustainable debt run up under Hicks and Gillett, that would no doubt be a welcome relief to Liverpool fans, as will the fact CIC is happy with Roy Hodgson being the manager.