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Broughton expects Liverpool deal in a week
Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton expects New England Sports Ventures (NESV) 2 complete their £300 million takeover of the club "in about a week", despite opposition fr current owners Tom Hicks & George Gillett.
Broughton will hand over the club 2 Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry subject 2 Premier League approval of the sale & the resolution of a legal challenge fr Hicks & Gillett.
The pending deal will clear the major part of Liverpool's £282 million debt 2 the RBS & provide transfer funds 4 manager Roy Hodgson 2 add new players.
Speaking in a TV interview about the sale, Broughton said: "It's likely 2 take abt a week. I would hope we will get the judgement by the end of next week."
Hicks & Gillett r opposed 2 the sale on the terms agreed 2 NESV, claiming it undervalues the club. They also sought 2 remove chief executive Christian Purslow & commercial director Ian Ayre fr their posts in a failed boardroom coup on Tuesday night, aft rejecting 2 offers 4 their stake in the club.
The American duo r already incredibly unpopular among Reds fans who hv staged numerous protests against their ownership & Broughton told Sky Sports: "This was frankly their last chance 2 leave Liverpool with their heads high & they hv chosen 2 go this route.
"It is a difficult issue. Part of me taking on the role - & I was appointed by Tom & George - was tat they gave a written undertaking tat only I could change the board, they wrote tat in2 the articles of the 2 companies Kop Football & Kop Holdings.
"They also gave a written undertaking 2 RBS tat they would not frustrate any reasonable sale & tis is frankly a flagrant abuse of those 2 written undertakings."
Broughton believes the prospective new owners could pursue plans 4 a new stadium or may choose instead 2 upgrade Anfield, having chosen 2 follow a similar path with the Red Sox's historic home Fenway Park rather than move 2 a new site.
"I think they 1 2 be judged by wat they do rather than wat they say. If you look at the Boston Red Sox as a massive example of taking a major, historic team which had seen better days & restored them 2 glory, it is a parallel which demonstrates action.
"Their mentality is all about winning. They hv invested a lot of money in players there and they are committed to making the necessary investment in Liverpool.
"At Fenway they chose not to build a new stadium. They will want to make sure that they do the right thing, (but) we will have a stadium which holds sixty-odd thousand. Whether that is the new stadium as designed or not, that is not a commitment, but will we have stadium development? Yes."
Broughton admitted the sale process had been a long one, saying: "We have contacted hundreds of different people and at the end of that process we had two valid bids, both from excellent prospective vendors, on the table competing each other which I think demonstrates exactly what the market price is.
"The price is £300 million, £200 million in writing down all of the acquisition debt, taking on some of the additional working capital debts and other liabilities."
Hicks and Gillett pledged to "resist any attempt to sell the club without due process or agreement".