利物浦俱樂部(不斷更新資料)

bangle1

PHOTO SPECIAL: SAMI'S FAREWELL

積奇仔

原帖由 bangle1 於 2009-5-25 09:28 發表
PHOTO SPECIAL: SAMI'S FAREWELL

呢個場面好感人~

窮出沒注意

支持大佬希！！

情人

好唔捨得大佬希

以上影片乃youtube提供,與本站無關; 若無法觀看,可查看原網址。

情人

Direcly copy from RAWK
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=242696.0

Rafa has transfered a total of 51 professional players to liverpool football club in the past 5 seasons spending a total of £189,866,000

In that period he has sold a total of 57 professional players for £108,075,000

Thats a NET spend of £82,791,000 on all transfers

Yet he is always criticised for his own transfer dealings and how he signed flops costing us lots of money so i thought i would do the sums and come to a conclusion.

Of those 51 professional players bought

14 were young players signed for the reserve team in the hope that they would develop to either make us money or hopefully become part of our first team squad

Insua signed for £1,300,000 and El Zhar signed for £200,000 made that step up in to our first team squad this season.

9 players remain in our reserves or on loan getting experience and have cost a total of £1,040,000

15.08.2005 Godwin Antwi - Real Zaragoza - Unknown likely to be small compensation fee
15.08.2005 Miki Roque - Lleida - Unknown likely to be small compensation fee
22.08.2005 Besian Idrizaj - LASK Linz - £190,000
01.01.2006 Paul Anderson - Hull City - Free swapped with John Welsh
12.01.2006 David Martin - MK Dons - £250,000 rising to £1m depending on appearances
24.01.2007 Jordy Brouwer - Ajax - Unknown likely to be small compensation fee   
30.01.2007 Francisco Durn - Malaga - £330,000
31.01.2007 Ronald Huth - Tacuary FC - Unknown likely to be small compensation fee
28.06.2007 Mikel San Jos Domnguez - Athletic Bilbao - £270,000

and 3 have since moved on and transfered to other clubs

21.01.2005 Scott Carson - Leeds United - £1,000,000, loaned to Villa for £1m and then sold for £3.25m rising to a potential £4m
04.07.2005 Antonio Barragan - Sevilla - £240,000 Sold for £675,000
18.08.2005 Jack Hobbs - Lincoln City - £150,000 Sold for an unknown fee most certainly more than we paid.

these 3 players cost £1,390,000 and sold for at least £4,075,000 thats a profit of £2,685,000 not including the £1m loan fee, £750,000 add ons or any fee over £150,000 for Hobbs.

22 are in the first team squad, or were before being out on loan, and they will be in contract at the end of the season

20.08.2004 Xabi Alonso - Real Sociedad - £10,700,000
04.07.2005 Jose Reina - Villareal - £6,000,000
12.01.2006 Agger - Brndby - £5,800,000
05.07.2006 Fbio Aurlio - Valencia - Free
18.08.2006 Dirk Kuyt - Feyenoord - £9,000,000
21.08.2006 Nabil El Zhar - St Etienne - £200,000 -  Moved up from reserves
31.01.2007 lvaro Arbeloa - Deportivo - £2,500,000
11.05.2007 Lucas Leiva - Gremio - £6,000,000
04.07.2007 Fernando Torres - Atletico Madrid - £20,200,000
06.07.2007 Andriy Voronin - Leverkusen - Free
12.07.2007 Yossi Benayoun - West Ham - £5,000,000
01.07.2007 Sebastian Leto - Club Atltico Lans - £1,800,000
13.07.2007 Ryan Babel - Ajax - £11,500,000
09.08.2007 Charles Itandje - Lens - Nominal Fee
26.08.2007 Emiliano Insa - Boca Juniors - £1,300,000  -  Moved up from reserves
11.01.2008 Martin Skrtel - Zenit St Petersburg - £6,500,000
29.02.2008 Javier Mascherano - Media Sports Investment - £17,000,000
03.07.2008 Philipp Degen - Dortmund - Free
04.07.2008 Andrea Dossena - Udinese - £7,000,000
11.07.2008 Diego Cavalieri - Palmeiras - £3,500,000
24.07.2008 David Ngog - Paris St Germain - £1,500,000
31.08.2008 Albert Riera - Espanyol - £8,000,000

Thats a first team squad assembled for £123,500,000 with only one player purchase inherited from previous management Sami Hyypia(£2.5m) who is moving on this summer.

15 players were bought for the first team and have since moved on

26.07.2004 Josemi Rey - Malaga - £2,000,000 - Exchanged for Kromkamp who sold for £1.7m
17.08.2004 Antonio Nunez - Real Madrid - £1,500,000 - Unknown fee believed to be what we paid £1.5m.
20.08.2004 Luis Garcia - Barcelona - £6,000,000 - Sold for £4,000,000
05.01.2005 Mauricio Pellegrino - Valencia - Free
13.01.2005 Fernando Morientes - Real Madrid - £6,300,000 - Sold for £3,000,000
04.07.2005 Boudewijn Zenden - Free left for Free
14.07.2005 Mohamed Sissoko - Valencia - £5,600,000 - Sold for £8,200,000
20.07.2005 Peter Crouch - Southampton - £7,000,000 - Sold for initial £8,750,000 rising to £11,000,000
20.10.2005 Mark Gonzalez - Albacete - £1,500,000 - Sold for £3,500,000
04.01.2006 Jan Kromkamp - Villareal - Exchange for Josemi - Sold for £1,700,000
27.01.2006 Robbie Fowler - Man City - Free left for Free
01.07.2006 Craig Bellamy - Blackburn - £6,000,000 - Sold for £7,500,000
04.07.2006 Gabriel Paletta - Club Atltico Banfield - £2,000,000 - Sold for £1,200,000 and we own 50% of his economic rights
26.07.2006 Jermaine Pennant - Birmingham - 6,700,000 - Left for Free
28.07.2008 Robbie Keane - Tottenham - £19,300,000 - Sold for £16,000,00 could rise to £19m if he wins silverware there

These players were purchased for £63,900,000 and sold for £56,850,000 not including the add-ons of £5,250,000 which could be received for Crouch and Keane. Thats a loss of £7,050,000 or just £1,800,000 if the add-ons are received. The most lost on one single transfer is £6,700,000 for Pennant and after that £3.3m each on Keane and Morientes.

Worst case scenario without receiving any add ons or including loan fees we have lost a total of £4,365,000 on players bought in and then sold since Rafa Benitez arrived in 2004/05. At best a £2,635,000 PROFIT!!! YES PROFIT on all his own transfers while compiling a squad of this quality by spending just £122,500,000 and a net spend of only £81,791,000 in the past 5 years. He didn't even profit as much as he should of when Owen, former european footballer of the year and only 24, moved on for £8.5m instead of the £20m he should have gone for if his contract was longer, in comparison the mancs got £25m for Beckham.

How can any one call our manager poor in the transfer market?

If you compare these numbers above with just these two brilliant  transfers dealings in the past few years 1) Veron - signed for £30m and sold for £15m and 2) Shevchenko - signed for £30m sold for next to nothing.

we have fought against squads like the mancs who include Rio(£30m), Rooney(£30m), Bebartov(£30m), Tevez(£10m loan fee), Carrick(£18m), Ronaldo(£12m) theres £130m right there and then theres park(£4m), nani(£14m), anderson(£15-18m), the twins(£5-10m), hargreaves(£18m) etc

Chelsea have Cech(£7m), Bosingwa(£16m), Carvalho(£20m), Mikel(£16m), Essien(£24m), Dropba(£24m), Anelka(£15m), Malouda(£13m) thats £135m and they have plenty more in their first team squad like Deco(£8m), Ivanovic(£9m), Kalou(£8m), Ferreira(£13m)

feel free to point out any mistakes and i will rectify them - this should be a reference thread to educate any ill informed 'friends'.



呢一篇係響RAWK直接copy番黎既一篇文章
詳細列明我地呢五年每一季每單轉會所用既錢
而球員既轉會費係根據利物浦官網所公佈而唔係出面坊間流傳
清晰咁計算利物浦呢五年所用既錢係幾多
五年轉會剩支出係八千二百幾萬
除番開即係一年剩支出唔超過一千七百萬
呢一點好好反擊左一批經常炒作認為利物浦駛左好大量金錢響買賣球員身上面既報導

世叔

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

bangle1

香港時間5月29日凌晨，利物浦官方宣佈續約頭號射手托利斯，托利斯與利物浦在2007年曾簽署了一份為期6年的合同，新合同在原有基礎上為西班牙金童增加了一年的選擇權利，如果托利斯願意，他將為利物浦一直效力到2014年。

托利斯也成為了最近兩個月內，繼古治、艾加、謝拉特與主帥賓尼迪斯後，與利物浦續約的第5位球隊重要人物。

「托利斯是當今世界足壇最好的前鋒之一，以他的年齡來說，他只可能變得更好。托利斯是那種每支球隊都想得到的優秀球員，但他已經用行動証明了自己願意留在利物浦取得成功的意願。懷有獨特天賦的他仍然保持著在比賽中不斷完善自己的一種渴望。」主帥賓尼迪斯表示。

2007年夏天從馬體會轉會到利物浦後，托利斯迅速成為了球隊的當家射手，本賽季聯賽最後一輪與熱刺隊的比賽中，西班牙國腳攻入了為紅軍效力以來的第50粒入球。托利斯無疑是紅軍攻擊陣容中的一枚重要棋子，本賽季一度領跑的紅軍最終與冠軍失之交臂，主帥賓尼迪斯曾惋惜到如果托利斯能多打幾場比賽，冠軍就是利物浦的了(托利斯本賽季因傷缺席了多場比賽)。

雖然再一次無緣英超冠軍，但利物浦在最近兩個月先後與5名大將續約，早早地為未來的比賽做好了準備。賓尼迪斯表示：「我們在本賽季取得了很大的進步，接下來我們將向冠軍邁出更近一步。我們正努力向聯賽冠軍發起衝刺，能夠留下這些重要隊員意味著我們可以懷著更大的信心去完成目標，這對球隊的所有人來說都是一個積極的信息。」

OCP_WAI

Thanks for information.

Wandererjc

又吹費蛇想買王子

dragon04

原帖由 JC 君 於 2009-6-15 12:51 PM 發表
又吹費蛇想買王子

he wants Torres to be the next C7.....what a shame

bangle1

原帖由 JC 君 於 2009-6-15 12:51 發表
又吹費蛇想買王子

點會賣俾費蛇

bangle1

利物浦1850萬收購英國腳



憑藉在世預賽對陣安道爾比賽中的助攻帽子戲法，英格蘭主力右後衛格連莊臣成為今夏轉會市場各隊追逐的人物。《泰晤士報》和《太陽報》等媒體今天報導，利物浦已經贏得了這場對格連莊臣的追逐戰。

即將加盟利物浦

在樸茨茅夫昨晚接受了紅軍1850萬英鎊(太陽報稱是1900萬英鎊)的報價後，英格蘭國腳即將加盟利物浦。除非車路士和曼城在最後一分鐘打動格連莊臣，否則，格連莊臣明天就將赴利物浦接受體檢。

24歲的格連莊臣成為今夏英超轉會市場上的吃香人物，賓尼迪斯截獲他頗為意外，因為利物浦球會正面臨著一場財政危機，而車路士和曼城的財力顯然要遠遠在於利物浦之上。

成為國家隊主力後身價標升

儘管兩年前僅僅以400萬英鎊將格連莊臣拋售給樸茨茅夫，但車路士今夏希望重新召回這位邊路大閘。而最近追逐英國腳上癮的曼城也對格連莊臣非常有意，並已為其開出10萬英鎊的週薪。

僅僅在1月份，格連莊臣的估價還僅僅是850萬英鎊，但在卡比路的國家隊牢牢坐穩主力位置後，格連莊臣的身價水漲船高。今年1月份，格連莊臣剛剛與樸茨茅夫軍團簽署了一份為期4年的新合約，但他希望加盟一支豪門卻是公開的秘密。

利物浦準備出售後衛

在確定引進格連莊臣後，利物浦準備向皇馬和祖雲達斯分別出售主力右後衛艾比路亞和後備左後衛杜辛拿。《泰晤士報》稱，除了格連莊臣外，利物浦還希望簽下曼城鐵衛李察士，後者在今天凌晨舉行的U21歐洲盃首戰對陣芬蘭隊的比賽中，幫助英格蘭U21攻入致勝一球。

pinball

原帖由 bangle1 於 2009-5-29 08:48 發表
香港時間5月29日凌晨，利物浦官方宣佈續約頭號射手托利斯，托利斯與利物浦在2007年曾簽署了一份為期6年的合同，新合同在原有基礎上為西班牙金童增加了一年的選擇權利，如果托利斯願意，他將為利物浦一直效力到2014年。

托利 ...

現象級射手

pinball

原帖由 bangle1 於 2009-6-17 09:33 發表
利物浦1850萬收購英國腳



憑藉在世預賽對陣安道爾比賽中的助攻帽子戲法，英格蘭主力右後衛格連莊臣成為今夏轉會市場各隊追逐的人物。《泰晤士報》和《太陽報》等媒體今天報導，利物浦已經贏得了這場對格連莊臣的追逐戰 ...

又話冇水, 又咁大駛

bangle1

Liverpool co-owner agrees $550m NHL deal


Liverpool owner George Gillett has agreed to sell the NHL's Montreal Canadiens to the Molson family in a deal that could help lift the financial cloud over the Premier League club.


GettyImages

Tom Hicks and George Gillett (R): Anfield's answer to Statler and Waldorf

The deal to sell the NHL's most successful ever team is worth a reported $550m (£330m).

Gillett put the Canadiens up for sale earlier this year as he scrambles to find funds to meet obligations on debt incurred as part of his takeover of Liverpool in partnership with Tom Hicks.

The sale includes Gillett's 80% stake in the team, the Bell Centre arena, and the Gillett Entertainment Group. Brewing moguls the Molsons, who sold the controlling interest in the team to Gillett for around $275m (£165 ) in 2001, already own the remaining 20% share.

''This is a very exciting time for our family and we are grateful to the many people and organisations who came forward to offer their collaboration in the development of our proposal,'' Geoff Molson said in a statement.

The sale must first be approved by the NHL's Board of Governors, and will likely not be completed for several more weeks.

The NHL's approval of the sale would, however, seemingly be only a matter of course.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman responded positively to the news of the deal today, saying: ''I think to the extent that they've been able to find people who are obviously passionate about the game and structure a transaction that makes sense for everybody, that's a real plus for the franchise and the fans in Montreal.''

News of the deal comes a little over two weeks after Liverpool's accountants warned of ''significant doubt'' over the club's parent company's ability to continue as a going concern with debt repayments due on July 24.

The company formed by Gillett and Hicks suffered a loss of £42.6m ($70.5m) last year, largely on interest repayments. The pair took out a loan of £350m ($580m) when they bought the club in 2007.

While Hicks and Gillett have been seeking other investors for Liverpool, they have so far come back empty-handed, meaning funds from a sale of the Canadiens could be needed to help cover upcoming payments.

Hicks has also been seeking to sell off elements of his own sporting empire - which includes Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars.

Hicks' situation is further complicated as the Hicks Sports Group in April defaulted on a £325m loan ($525m) relating to the Rangers and Stars.

The Canadiens, who are celebrating their centenary year, are the oldest continually run professional ice hockey team in North America. Their 24 Stanley Cup titles are the most in the NHL.

''Our family has been very proud to be associated with the Montreal Canadiens over the past eight years and particularly to be a part of their Centennial Season,'' Gillet said after confirming the deal.

''I am fully confident that the Molson brothers, who have been a great part of the heritage of the club, will ensure the preservation and development of this great sports institution.''

The Molson family first bought the team in 1978, although their involvement dates back to the 1950s.

bangle1

利物浦老闆賣冰球隊救足球 賺3.3億英鎊可解燃眉之急


拆東牆補西牆？這或許就是利物浦美國老闆的「救國」方案。2周前公佈的會計報告已經証實利物浦面臨著財政危機，而賓尼迪斯則正在球市上備受資金緊張的困擾。這種情況下，利物浦雙主席吉列和希克斯出售各自旗下北美球隊的計劃，當然會受到紅軍球迷的歡迎。上週六，吉列已經先行一步，他將全美冰球聯賽(NHL)蒙特利爾加拿大人的股權讓渡他人，這被視為有利於緩解利物浦財政壓力的積極舉措。

吉列與當地的姆亞森家族發表聯合聲明稱，他們已經達成原則性協議，吉列將把蒙特利爾加拿大人出售給姆亞森家族三兄弟。1950年代時，姆亞森家族便參與該隊的經營，70年代成為球會的主人。吉列則是在2001年斥資2.75億美元，從姆亞森家族手中購入了該球會的大部所有權，擁有球隊、球場及開發公司的80.1%的股份。而今「物歸原主」，吉列表示：「很高興能把股權交回姆亞森家族手中。」

數月前，吉列便把蒙特利爾加拿大人挂牌出售。儘管在利物浦飽受非議，吉列在NHL對這支百年老店的管理還是比較成功的，幾年來，他將該隊建設為NHL經濟效益最好的球會之一。眼下這份股權轉讓協議，仍需要NHL聯賽管理部門的批准，但外界預計大約8月底便可完成各種手續。儘管雙方沒有公佈成交數額，但媒體披露應在5.5億美元(約合3.3億英鎊)左右，這比吉列8年前吃進股份時的投資整整翻了一番。

利物浦上一財年虧損4260萬英鎊，其母公司的財力能否保持球會健康存活引來了專家的質疑。利物浦將在7月24日的限期前為3.5億英鎊的貸款重新提供擔保，吉列和希克斯聲稱不會轉手股份，但對新的投資夥伴表示歡迎。然而，兩位美國老闆迄今沒有找到合適的加盟者，這樣一來，吉列出售NHL球隊賺回的大筆資金，被認為可解燃眉之急。與此同時，希克斯旗下掌控著美國職棒大聯盟(MLB)得克薩斯流浪者以及NHL另一支球隊達拉斯星。上月底，他也承認，可能尋求出讓得克薩斯流浪者的股份。

不管怎樣，兩位美國老闆將利物浦陷入如此窘境，早已令人大失所望。2年前將球會出售給美國人的前主席穆爾斯，上週四便已從球會董事會辭職，這無疑是他對現政權不滿的表現。美國老闆上台後，於1991年至2007年擔任利物浦主席的穆爾斯，依然保留了一些頭銜，迄今，他也仍是球會的終身名譽主席。不過，早在去年4月，穆爾斯便承認，他對美國人的執政表現「深感痛心」。確實，利物浦債台高築的現狀以及新球場建設計劃的拖延，與穆爾斯交權時指望球會從此變得更加富有的預期完全背道而馳。穆爾斯辭去董事職務，標誌著利物浦前朝元老對球會的影響力進一步降低，穆爾斯的好友帕里，在今年初便已確認會在本賽季結束後辭去CEO職務。

bangle1

簽下格連莊臣，標誌著利物浦在今年夏季的買人行動有了實際收穫，格倫原本預計要被前東家車路士回購，但最終被利物浦拿到手。《利物浦回聲報》的消息稱，賓尼迪斯承認為了搶到格倫，他付出的比預料的要多不少，畢竟1800萬買來的只不過是一名後衛而已。

在賓尼迪斯看來，不抬高價格，就沒有辦法從車路士這裡搶人，他說：「有時候你必須得花費更多，如果你不多花錢，你就沒有辦法在四大豪門裡競爭得到過其他對手。我們一直在找高水準的選手，一些人必須得是英國人，因為有歐冠新規在前面擺著，格連莊臣各方麵條件都合適。」如果沒有大意外的話，格倫的簽字確認將在未來48小時內進行。

賓尼迪斯同時還強調，格倫的簽入，不會是一線隊買入隊員的收官之作。他說：「我們有個計劃，如果需要我們還要簽更多的選手，但得有選手離開。」說到隊員離開，馬斯查蘭奴和艾朗素的傳聞鬧得非常凶，這也是賓尼迪斯頗為關注的事項。

賓帥對這兩位中場主力的態度很明確，不願意其他球會來給出報價，也就是說兩人和謝拉特一樣是非賣品。皇馬對艾朗素的興趣似乎已經暫告段落，但巴塞隆拿還沒有放棄對馬斯查蘭奴的追逐，賓尼迪斯的警告似乎無濟於事。

要說到第一個離開的，倒很可能是艾比路亞。儘管是同胞，而且艾比路亞得到的評價並不低，但賓尼迪斯並不像關注艾朗素那樣關注艾比路亞。賓帥說：「艾華路-艾比路亞踢了一個非常出色的賽季，但他的合約還有一年。如果他簽新合約，當然是好事，我們的隊伍有了更強的競爭力，但如果我們接到了非常好的報價，我必須得考慮一下。」而這種報價，目前來看很可能來自出得起錢的皇家馬德里。

關於艾比路亞，《每日星報》的新聞更為直截了當：利物浦正準備把他出售給皇家馬德里。該報稱如果皇馬能開出800萬英鎊來收購艾比路亞這位在班拿貝起步的右後衛，賓尼迪斯就會犧牲掉他。

同時賓尼迪斯也希望租借在外的列托和禾朗連能給隊伍帶來更多的轉會資金，剛剛在洲際國家盃上攻入烏龍的杜辛拿也在考慮之中。禾朗連在哈化柏林打了出色的一季，而左翼列托則在奧林匹亞科斯得到了相當多的出場機會，兩人如果由租轉賣的話，的確能為紅軍創收一筆。22歲的列托是很不願意回到晏菲路效力，他突然想通了，自己留在利物浦發展機會太苛刻，不如在打出感覺的希臘聯賽繼續踢下去，列托說：「我已經非常接近正式加盟奧林匹亞科斯了，我覺得下賽季為該隊繼續踢球的概率在90%左右」。

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Liverpool close to vital refinancing?
By Phil Holland
(Archive)
June 24, 2009
The last few days have brought good news and bad news for Liverpool fans. The good news is that something approaching financial stability could be on the horizon amid reports that banking groups RBS and Wachovia are ready to refinance the £350m debt that was threatening the club.

The bad news, especially for those who want to see the back of co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, is that the Americans don't appear to be going anywhere.

With a deadline of July 24 looming there had been fears that Gillett and Hicks were on the brink of losing control at Anfield thus allowing the club to spiral out of financial control. If they had not been able to repay the full amount, or agree a new refinancing deal with the banks, the future looked bleak.

Defaulting on the loan repayments would have seen Hicks and Gillett ousted and Liverpool falling into the hands of bankers who would have had no choice but to sell the club to the highest bidder.

Having led the club into such a parlous position, Liverpool fans are understandably far from united in their support of their co-owners, who arrived in 2007 promising to revitalise the club. Yes, there has been progress on the pitch, but at what cost? Off the pitch their tenure has been marked by in-fighting, uncertainty and debt.

Selling up was an option the US sports investors considered, but in such a depressed market they saw little in the way of potential interest, and certainly not at the level they wanted. Instead, Gillett and Hicks set about trying to arrange a refinancing deal, but in order to do so successfully they had to make some serious, long-term decisions.

For their attempts at refinancing the £350m debt to be taken seriously by RBS and Wachovia both Gillett and Hicks have had to commit to selling their other major assets, thereby making personal guarantees to convince the banks they would be able to meet future repayments on their Liverpool debt as well as fund the club in the future.

This began last weekend when Gillett announced that he had reached a deal to sell his 80.1% stake in NHL ice hockey franchise the Montreal Canadiens in a deal worth around £330m. Hicks has yet to agree any deals but is also actively looking to offload his own NHL team, the Dallas Stars, and sell his MLB baseball franchise, the Texas Rangers.

Gillett bought his controlling stake in the Canadiens for £165m in 2001 from the Molson brewing family and by selling back to the same people appears to have doubled his money; although as part of the deal the 60-year-old is also relinquishing the ice hockey team's arena, the Bell Centre, and his sports and music promotions company, the Gillett Entertainment Group.

If Hicks is successful in brokering similar deals, Liverpool will soon become the lone jewel in the crown of these two sports entrepreneurs and, despite their lowly standing amongst Anfield's rank and file supporters, will be committed long-term to the Merseyside club.




That might not sound like good news to sceptical fans, but perhaps more worrying than Gillett and Hicks' continued involvement is the manner of it. If the reports are correct and RBS and Wachovia are poised to agree a refinancing deal the club will still be heavily indebted to two banks.

Reports have suggested that if RBS and Wachovia agree a new deal with Liverpool's co-owners the interest payments on the debts will be significantly higher than before and that several large repayments will be scheduled in the first few months of the deal; hence Gillett and Hicks' need to sell assets and generate wherewithal to meet the banks' new terms.

Last month, the cost of Liverpool's debts was revealed when Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd, the holding company through which Gillett and Hicks own the club, reported their finances for the year ending August 2008 and showed worrying losses of £42.6m.

Of that £42.6m a troubling £36.5m was spent on servicing the interest on the £350m debts - and not reducing the overall debt. Perhaps with their personal coffers swelled by the sale of other sporting assets, the Liverpool co-owners will be able to start making meaningful payments to reduce the club's overall debt burden.

Given that consolidating their position at Anfield is the prime objective for Gillett and Hicks they seem to have made a shrewd appointment as the club's new managing director. Christian Purslow, who as well as being able to speak Spanish and having his own season ticket, also has an existing working relationship with senior figures at RBS thanks to his background in private equity.

This makes him an ideal fit for a role that will require him to assume the strategic responsibilities of outgoing chief executive Rick Parry, assist Rafa Benitez with the acquisition of new players, and maintain positive relations with RBS.

While some Liverpool fans will not relish the continued involvement of Gillett and Hicks at Anfield, if they are able to refinance their debts it will at least secure the club's short term future and avert a meltdown.

Positive developments have already followed the announcement of Gillett's NHL deal in the form of Liverpool's £17.5m acquisition of Glen Johnson and reports that RBS are ready to agree new terms. Hopefully it is a sign of increased strength and will enable the club to rebuff the attentions of Real Madrid and Barcelona who are sniffing around Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano respectively.

However, while there are positives to be taken from the progress being made, refinancing Liverpool's debts is just the lesser of two evils; even once new terms are in place it will not alter the fact that Liverpool are heavily leveraged and at risk if they are ever unable to keep up with repayments.

OCP_WAI

格連莊臣...
Too expensive.

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GLEN JOHNSON PHOTO SPECIAL