Arabs set to enterthe battle of Anfield
Independent.co.uk Ian Herbert and Nick Harris
Friday, 18 April 2008
Hicks told Sky Sports News that his plan is to buy out Gillett and remove the debt he and Gillett loaded on to the club
Undeterred by the latest public outburst by Liverpool's co-owner Tom Hicks, the Arab consortium Dubai International Capital is ready to buy out his partner George Gillett within six weeks when a legal bar on the sale of his 50 per cent stake is lifted.
Just when it seemed that Hicks had no mud left to throw at the club's chief executive, Rick Parry, he redoubled his efforts to draw Rafael Benitez into the fight to remove him yesterday by claiming that Parry had spent "three or four hours" alone with Jürgen Klinsmann before a board meeting he and co-owner Gillett had called.
Hicks' interview, conducted at his home in Dallas, ranged from the vitriolic – he described Parry as a "disaster" – to the farcical. Wearing a Liverpool jersey and drinking from a club mug, he celebrated the 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers by saying: "Well Everton won't like that."
But this will not deter DIC from a plan to take over Gillett's 50 per cent share in Liverpool – when pre-emption rights preventing the sale expire – enduring Hicks for as long as they must and then attempting to force Hicks out of the club by putting up money for Liverpool's new stadium and challenging him to do the same. They believe he will be unable to do so.