Fernando Torres returns to training at Liverpool today with the club poised on the brink of a controversial hostile takeover bid by a Chinese businessman, which may profoundly affect the player's thinking about his future.
Kenny Huang, who is believed to be backed by Chinese state-owned investment funds, first approached Liverpool during the World Cup to indicate that he was making his bid and to say that players such as Torres should be aware of the potential investment before deciding on their futures. Torres was briefed on the approach some time ago and will be encouraged, on his return to Melwood to await the outcome of discussions between the tycoon and Royal Bank of Scotland.
But the club's owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett may not be receptive to a bid – which envisages Huang guaranteeing the repayment of most of the £237m debt amassed by the Americans – because they would stand to make little out of the sale. Suggestions yesterday that the Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi may be ready to make a £400m offer for the club, the same buyer who surfaced in April in a rash of publicity that came to nothing, appear nothing more than a smokescreen to fend off an imminent hostile bid.
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