Hicks and Gillett to Sell Liverpool After All?

British tabloid The Daily Mirror claims that Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are poised to hand over the club they bought just one year ago. Despite denials from both Hicks and Gillett, “sources in New York” tell the Mirror that the pair will sell Liverpool to Dubai International Capital in mid-March for around $920 million. Hicks and Gillett paid $438 million to take control of the club in February 2007, but through their plans to build a new stadium in Stanley Park, incurred a debt of $700 million. “These talks are still ongoing,” one of the sources said. “Tom and George want to make sure they get the right price for giving up the club.” Under the arrangement being discussed, Hicks would remain part of the Liverpool directorate.
 
The report suggests that Liverpool fans would rejoice at the news, as relations between club supporters and the American owners have grown increasingly hostile over the past several months. In particular, fans have protested what they perceive to be the pair’s harsh treatment of revered manager Rafael Benitez. They are now said to support a sale to DIC, an investment firm run by Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.