Stadium will open on time despite rift, promises Hicks
By JOE BERNSTEIN - More by this author »
Liverpool owner Tom Hicks has promised work on the club's new 60,000- seat stadium at Stanley Park will start in September and be open for matches in 2011.
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Coming soon: Liverpool insist their new stadium will be ready by 2011
Hicks made his vow after Liverpool City Council last week granted planning permission for the new ground.
There are fears among Liverpool fans that the current impasse at board level between co-owners Hicks and George Gillett will cause a delay in the stadium being built.
But Hicks allayed those worries by saying: "Site work will start in September and actual construction in late October/early November, with completion in time for the season starting in August 2011."
Manager Rafa Benitez believes a new stadium is essential to Liverpool staying in the Big Four in the long term.
"I am concentrating on my team right now but it's clear it will be a massive help to Liverpool to have a bigger stadium," said the Spaniard. "To get larger crowds will help bring in money to sign top players."
Benitez is under pressure to sell this summer before he can bring in the three players he needs — including top targets Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and Barcelona's Eric Abidal.
He is desperate for Peter Crouch to join Villa as part of a swap deal with Barry and is annoyed that Crouch's agents are trying to get a £75,000-a-week offer from Portsmouth.
Martin O'Neill has been offered Scott Carson, Jon Arne Riise and Crouch for Barry but Liverpool wanted cash as well — something O'Neill is reluctant to pay as he regards Barry as more valuable than Crouch, who only has one year left on his contract.
Crouch is interested in a return to Villa Park but he also has a strong loyalty to Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp, while a move to Manchester City would allow him to keep his north-west home.
Benitez expects to land Borussia Dortmund fullback Philipp Deggen on a free transfer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=565478&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnowDoes this fucker think we stupid or what.
Could not find any other thread open to paste.
