Source: Daily_Mail
Liverpool chief Christian Purslow insists £300m takeover bid will succeed
Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow is confident the proposed £300million sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures will go through. Purslow maintained the Reds board had 'done their homework' on the American investment group, which owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team, and said that the club's £237m debt would be wiped out if the takeover, which is subject to a High Court challenge from current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, goes through next week. Bad start: but Purslow is confident the £300m sale to New England Sports Ventures will go through He also insisted manager Roy Hodgson's job was safe and that the Liverpool fans would be given a voice should the new owners be able to complete their takeover. Hicks and Gillett borrowed money from the Royal Bank of Scotland to complete their purchase of Liverpool in 2007, a debt which Purslow insists would be wiped out by an NESV buy-out. Purslow told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: 'My total priority has been to try to remove the debt which has been put on this club and which has been a cloud since February 2007. Nonsense: Liverpool chief Purslow says the club will not go into administration'It is wrong that we should have so much of the money that comes through the turnstiles or through our commercial activity go to pay interest on loans.'A bidder who has been willing with cash to rid of us of all this long-term debt is by far the largest and most important priority in evaluating bids. 'We have done our homework and NESV are buying this business with cash and clearing our debt which transforms our financial position overnight.'In new hands: John W Henry, the flamboyant commodities trader, revitalised the world-famous Boston Red Sox baseball teamHicks and Gillett have launched a legal challenge to the takeover, describing it as invalid and insisting that the offer by NESV under-valued the club. The High Court case is set to begin on Tuesday. If the court rules in favour of Hicks and Gillett, RBS could call in their debt as early as Friday, when repayment is due in full, and force Kop Holdings into administration. That would almost certainly result in a nine-point penalty being imposed on the club by the Premier League, which would leave them bottom of the table on minus three points. However, Purslow said: 'I'm not even contemplating administration.'NESV, who own American baseball team the Boston Red Sox, and allefforts were focused on tying up the deal. Speaking on BBC Radio 5Live's Sportsweek programme Purslow also gave an insight into why NESVhad chosen Liverpool, saying: 'Last Monday we had two very goodoffers to buy our business that would clear all our debts and I amcompletely focused on making sure that the sale completes. 'They(NESV) see a number of parallels with the Red Sox when they purchasedthem and Liverpool today and the word that jumps off the page everytime we sit with them is 'winning.' Protest: Liverpool fans have never warmed to Hicks and Gillett'They see winning on the field islinked to how you perform commercially off the field. They go hand inhand. It's extremely enjoyable to make sports clubs more successful.Whether you're a poor or a rich sports fan, winning is great fun and Isense both of those things when we meet with these people. 'Theyapproached us. They met our chairman. He was immediately struck withtheir seriousness and the entire senior management team of NESV came toLiverpool.'They spent a large amount of time in the club doing theirwork and those are important signs of people's seriousness in thetransaction business.'Safe: Purslow says Hodgson's job isn't under threat Purslow said he was convinced NESV, fronted bybusinessman John W Henry, would supply cash for team building andunlike Hicks and Gillett would maintain a high-profile presence atAnfield. Purslow said: 'You don't spend �300m on buying a sports teamfor it to be a mediocre team. 'If they buy Liverpool I would expectthem to be very visible around the business. They are serious people,they're deadly serious about wanting to succeed. I can't imagine they'dbe hands-off for one minute.' Purslow also insisted that if the dealwent through the Liverpool fans, who have protested vociferouslyagainst the current owners, would be given a say in how the club wasrun. He said: 'Our fans have felt totally disenfranchised by theexperience of the last three years. One thing I really liked about NESVis they are really serious about the importance of engaging with theirfans. 'I've asked them to consider a scheme at our club that willgive our fans a real sense of ownership, a real sense of inclusion, thekind of voice they deserve and NESV have told us they'll look at thisvery seriously if they complete. 'It's not been easy with the currentowners - tensions have been high and so that side of things has beendifficult but now that we have potential new ownership I don't want tomiss the opportunity to make sure that our fans never again feel sodisenfranchised. Under pressure: Liverpool are currently in the relegation zone following a disastrous start to this season's campaign 'The most important principle is that fans need tofeel that they have a means to express their views and to be listenedto and the sense of ownership obviously is the most extreme example ofthat.' Purslow also urged Hicks and Gillett to call off their HighCourt action and to walk away from Anfield for the good of the club. He said: 'Right now they do have an opportunity with one simple shortcorrespondence today to allow a sale to complete and that would clearthe club of all the acquisition debt and give us a massive lift beforethe Everton game(next Sunday). A fresh start and real hope for our fansand players that we can get back to the top.'That's in their giftand would enable them to leave with some dignity and some peace ratherthan precipitating a messy dispute. I hope they'll think about that.' When asked about Hodgson's contract, which had been reported to include an exit clause, Purslow said: 'There is nothing in Roy's contract which is not totally standard under the LMA (League Managers' Association) guidelines.' Pressed if Hodgson would be part of the set-up if the takeover is completed Puslow replied: 'Absolutely.' Purslow, however, was unclear whether it would mean a new stadium for the club.'We've shown NESV all the plans around the stadium that we have planning permisson for in Stanley Park,' said Purslow. 'They know we believe this is the way forward and have been very impressed by that. It's been a key ingredient in attracting them to Liverpool. 'A bit too much has been made that when they bought the Red Sox they refurbished the existing stadium. In fact the same ownership group in two previous teams built new stadia in Baltimore and San Diego. 'It's simple, given that a new owner will be paying for a new stadium it is entirely reasonable and their prerogative that when they get here they want to pull up the carpets, fine-tune the detail that we are proposing and make their final decision. They want to increase the capacity of Liverpool Football Club.' Anfield deal on brink of collapse: Liverpool's US buyers will walk away if club are docked points Rescuing Liverpool is like trying to stop the Titanic from sinking.Is John W Henry a smoker without fire for Liverpool? Liverpool 'can show Tom Hicks and George Gillett lied' over loading debt onto clubLIVERPOOL FC