New £500m bid for Liverpool claims Mr 'Fixit' Keith Harris
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MR FIXIT ... Keith HarrisFOOTBALL Mr Fixit Keith Harris claims an overseas buyer is considering making an offer of between £400million and £500million for Liverpool.
Former Football League chairman Harris, who has had a hand in the sales of Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City, said due diligence has already been done.
Harris also claimed the party he was representing was not one mentioned publicly before.
He added: "A huge amount of work has been done. "It is none of the groups mentioned in the Press. The ball is now in our client's court to make an offer.
"I don't think the deal will be done before the transfer window closes this month but the next pressure point is October, when some of the RBS loan of £237m has to be repaid.
"It may happen then. But in the present climate these things are impossible to predict."
Last week Hong Kong-based businessman Kenny Huang — whose interest was allied to the Chinese government — pulled out of the bidding process, while Syrian-Canadian Yahya Kirdi's much-publicised interest has been treated with scepticism.
Harris said history has taught him that those who went public before an agreement had been reached rarely succeeded.
He added: "The Chinese government involvement was always a bit far-fetched.
"In any takeover situation, when people resort to announcing it to the media, you have to question the seriousness of the offer.
"If the name of the prospective buyer comes out before the deal is done then probably it is never going to be done.
"Look at when Chelsea was sold in 2003. My firm was advising the club and we only knew of Roman Abramovich on the Thursday before the deal was completed the following Tuesday."
Harris worked on a bid for Liverpool two years ago for Kuwaiti Nasser Al Khorafi, whom it is claimed agreed a deal for £300m up front and another £100m based on financial performance only to pull out at the last minute.
Harris said: "He just lost his appetite. No explanation was forthcoming."
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i dont understand why there isnt a serious buyer for a club like liverpool.
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Well, I guess it might be a bigger risk nowadays than afew yrs ago as Pool's status as a confirm CL qualifier is no longer a certainty every year from now on... So unless they get an owner who isn't looking to make money or break even very soon, then it shouldn't be a problem... But that type of owners are far and few... A normal businessman would hesitate and have to think very carefully before plunging into this possible catastrophe... A normal businessman would have to take into account...
1 How much they have to pay for the club? $400k to $500k?
2 How much will they need to invest to keep up in the top 4? Another $100k?
3 The competition today in no longer like 4, 5 yrs ago where even if you don't win the title, a top 4 finish shouldn't be a problem therefore qualification to the CL where the big money are is more or less confirmed...
4 The ageing stars like Gerrard, Cole, Carragher would need serious replacements which will cost about $50m for top players... or forget about even having a chance of making the top 4.
So even with a $100m investment, it's still not necessary a given they will make the top 4 given there is only 4 places. I would think Chelsea and City have 2 of that 4 already... Therefore the other 2 will have to be battle it out with the likes of United, Spurs, Arsenal and maybe even Everton and Birmingham...
So a normal businessman owner will live in fear of losing big money should the club don't make it to the CL... In my opinion, 2, 3 consecutive seasons without CL for a club like Liverpool would cause them irreversible demage... Cos we could see Gerrard and Carragher replaced with average players on lower salaries, Torres leave cos he isn't happy playing with the average players there and also not winning anything at club level at the age of 27... And the only type of players they can attract are those in the average league on medium salaries... Like the Christain Poulsen for the Mascherano kind of thing... This is where the rot starts...
So unless the next Pool owner don't mind being an average club from then on, like the Newcastle, the Birmingham or the Aston Villa of today... Just trying to stay profitable and forget about winning, I guess they can live within their means and be a club destine to be between 6th to 12th position every year... But still profitable to the owners.