Yet for Martin Broughton, the Stamford Bridge loyalist who is overseeing the sale of the Anfield club, the responsibility weighs heavily on his shoulders.
His dispassionate viewpoint could well prove crucial, as takeover talk on Merseyside reaches fever pitch, in ensuring that Liverpool do not simply lurch from one set of dysfunctional owners to another.
As Chinese mogul Kenny Huang and Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi jostle for position with claims and counter claims of being on the verge of seizing power, British Airways chairman Broughton could have been forgiven for puncturing the hype by borrowing a line from the film Jerry Maguire and demanding:
“Show me the money”. For all the talk of grand plans by both parties and expressions of interest from other more publicityshy suitors, there are no formal bids on the table. Soon actions will have to resonate louder than the rhetoric, or the impression will stick that Liverpool are simply going round in circles.
Having been drafted in to manage the process, which could see the New York based Rhone Group and Kuwait’s Al-Kharafi family enter the bidding, Broughton’s reputation is on the line to an extent.
He will not wish to repeat the mistakes that brought George Gillett and Tom Hicks to power in February 2007 by failing to delve properly into the backgrounds of prospective owners.
“No one wants to get into a situation whereby, in one or two years’ time, we are looking to throw ourselves under a bus because the wrong option was taken,” said a source. There are key questions that have yet to be fully satisfied in the battle to end the Americans’ flawed tenure. What is being offered to pay off Gillett and Hicks? What are the plans for the stadium project and team strengthening? How will this be funded and, most importantly, where is the proof of funds?
For Huang and Kirdi, who are happy to be portrayed as international jet-setters when in fact they are facilitators working on behalf of others, surely providing that information should not be too much trouble?
It seemed apt that the momentum behind Huang’s overtures was described as “almost unstoppable” in some business quarters this week, for that is exactly what he says Liverpool would become under him.
In a city that Michael Owen once described as being akin to “rumour central”, Chinese whispers may finally yield a breakthrough and catapult the club into new territory that would no longer see them casting envious glances towards Manchester City et al.
The Far East remains a lucrative market for clubs into which Liverpool have made sizeable strides of late, but remain aware there is further territory to exploit.
It was not totally unexpected that Huang should look to distance himself yesterday from the idea he is being backed by the China Investment Corporation, which has assets of £250 billion and which manages part of China’s foreign
exchange reserves.
But the CIC is said to have sold £351m-worth of shares in the global financial services firm Morgan Stanley in the last couple of weeks – a fi gure equivalent to the debts currently being held by Liverpool.
“We will not confirm or deny any matter in relation to Liverpool Football Club unless and until we and the representatives of Liverpool have chosen to do so jointly,” said a statement that intimated top-level talks have taken place.
The Chinese government’s role in buying Liverpool is a sensitive one and reason enough for Broughton to tread carefully while all the time the Royal Bank of Scotland, who are owed £237m by Hicks and Gillett repayable by October, are waving that IOU.
Huang is certainly being taken more seriously by senior figures at Anfield, although less so by Hicks and Gillett, who would walk away with no profit. They favour Kirdi, who is Syrian-born but lives and works in Canada.
He is offering the Americans the chance to leave with an absolute fortune, which has sparked scepticism over why Kirdi would present such mouthwatering terms when there is no need to. But where the funds are coming from remains something of a mystery. There is less ambiguity over where Gillett and Hicks stand, teetering on the brink as their money worries catch up with them.
The break-up of Hicks’ sporting empire has already begun with his baseball franchise, the Texas Rangers, having been auctioned off for £374m yesterday. He is also looking to sell the Dallas Stars ice hockey team as he moves out of sports ownership.
That will delight Liverpool supporters, but not as much Broughton’s eventual declaration that he has delivered a deal that will see a once-proud institution flourish for decades to come.
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