Torres pins hopes on Chinese takeover, but a second bidder emerges
Fernando Torres’ decision to pledge his future to Liverpool yesterday is believed to have emerged after the Spaniard’s representatives held talks with prospective Reds owner Kenny Huang, but the Chinese tycoon now has serious competition for a takeover of the club.
Huang was seen as the clear front-runner to take ownership of the Premier League giants from American duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett, but yesterday Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton revealed that the club was subject to “several” bids, and the identity of one of the interested parties has now become known.
Former Syrian international footballer Yahya Kirdi, a Unicef representative, is heading a group of investors from the Middle East and Canada who are now said to be in “advanced negotiations” to buy the club.
Kirdi has been mentioned in dispatches with a takeover ever since the Americans first put the club up for sale in April, but has now chosen to go public following Huang’s revelations about his plans.
According to several reports, his group are now finalising a price for the club, organising the repayment of debt to the Royal Bank of Scotland and putting the finance in place to build a new stadium. Perhaps crucially, Kirdi’s bid is believed to be the preferred option of co-owner Gillett.
Other interested parties are rumoured to include the New York-based Rhône Group – whose £110million bid for a 40% share of the club was rejected by Hicks earlier this year – and the Al-Kharafi family of Kuwait, who have been in contact with Broughton. Both now look to be long-shots though.
“Liverpool is a massive football club,” Kirdi is quoted as saying, “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.”
Huang’s camp were making similar noises yesterday, and it is being claimed that some of the Hong Kong-based tycoon’s advisers met with the 26-year-old Torres to reassure him of their intentions for the future of the club, starting with significant investment in the playing staff before the closure of the transfer window on August 31st.
Torres was clearly impressed by what they had to say judging by his public reiteration of his desire to stay at Liverpool yesterday, and so what he would make of Kirdi’s interest remains to be seen.
What is clear though, is that Liverpool will soon be changing hands.
New Premier League rules dictate that the league should be informed of any takeover at least 10 days before a deal is finalised, and the Reds have been in contact to serve notice.
Prospective owners will be asked to pass a means test designed to prove that they have both the requisite funds for a takeover and the forthcoming season. The test supersedes the controversial ‘fit and proper’ persons test, and is designed to prevent a repeat of the ownership chaos that engulfed Portsmouth last season.
Things won’t get that bad at Liverpool, but as Torres holds out for hero to emerge from the east, he might well soon be working for an owner from the Middle East; not quite the Far Eastern promise he was expecting.
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