taken from the Belfast telegraph
It is Hicks, of the club's two proprietors, who is privately most positive about Keane and the money laid out for him, though that may have much to do with a desire to position himself as the manager's ally. But neither American believes Benitez should, as he wishes, decide how much to pay for players within the budget allocated. Sunday's visit of Chelsea appears to present an opportunity for discussion on that subject, with Hicks expected on Merseyside for the first time since last April's Champions League quarter-final tie, as well as Gillett.
Hicks' announcement that he would attend the game had given rise to some belief within Anfield that he was planning some kind of announcement about the club's finances, presumably related to discussions which Liverpool have been having with the Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi. The fact that the Kharafi Group is building the 60,000-seat Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait demonstrates why Liverpool executives had been sent to meet his associates. But Hicks has also dispatched key personnel from the United States to Kuwait and elsewhere in the region to find investors able to provide the capital that will help him reduce the club's debt and build a new stadium.
There is a prospect within weeks of new partners being unveiled in Kop Football (Holdings) – the company that Hicks and Gillett used as the vehicle to buy Liverpool in 2007 – a senior source, unconnected with the various PR agencies Hicks has employed, has now told the Associated Press.
Daniel Agger has echoed his manager's criticism of Liverpool's failure to offer him a new deal. There is much ground to cover, with Agger's salary demands exceeding what Liverpool want to pay and his concern about his lack of first-team starts something Liverpool know they must address. A meeting between Benitez, the club's chief executive, Rick Parry, the player and his agent, Per Steffensen, has been delayed by Benitez's recent illness.
