It looks as if the ruler of Dubai is no longer interested in buying Liverpool who are having difficulty in raising funds for their new stadium. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has told the club’s owners that he has dropped his interest after an unsuccessful two-year pursuit. Intermediary Amanda Staveley, who has been negotiating on Sheikh Mohammed’s behalf since the turn of the year, has told Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. that he is no longer interested because of the financial climate and their refusal to lower an ‘unrealistic’ £600m valuation.
It looks as if the ruler of Dubai is no longer interested in buying Liverpool who are having difficulty in raising funds for their new stadium. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has told the club’s owners that he has dropped his interest after an unsuccessful two-year pursuit. Intermediary Amanda Staveley, who has been negotiating on Sheikh Mohammed’s behalf since the turn of the year, has told Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. that he is no longer interested because of the financial climate and their refusal to lower an ‘unrealistic’ £600m valuation. This could be a negotiation tactic, but it is not the way that the Dubai ruler does business. There are other potential investors, at least one from the Middle East. The owners hope to be granted a six-month extension of their £350m loan from Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, but their long-term prospects at Anfield remain bleak. It is difficult to see when work on the new stadium will get under way.