Liverpool owners move to end crisis

Liverpool's American owners moved Friday to end the crisis engulfing the club by offering strong backing to manager Rafael Benitez and announcing a refinancing that will release funds for new players and a 71,000-capacity stadium.

In a strong signal of their intention to remain at the helm of the five-times European champions, George Hicks and George Gillett announced that they had appointed Dallas-based architects HKS to build the new stadium at Stanley Park, close to Anfield, the club's current home.

The 350-million-pound refinancing package will enable Hicks and Gillett to repay loans they took out to buy the club last year, as well as providing seed funding for the new stadium, which Liverpool aim to complete by August 2011 at a cost of around 300 million pounds.

The Americans will hope that the prospect of both a new stadium and a stronger squad will help draw a line under their public spat with Benitez and assuage mounting opposition to them among the club's supporters, many of whom have welcomed renewed interest from Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) in a possible takeover.

Hicks and Gillett's standing with the Liverpool supporters has deteriorated sharply following the revelation earlier this month that they had talked to Jurgen Klinsmann about possibly taking over from Benitez. The Spaniard remains hugely popular with the fans, having led Liverpool to two Champions League finals in his first three seasons in charge.

But his personal relationship with the owners has been strained since he publicly criticised their transfer policy at the end of last year. Benitez has been particularly irked by the club's failure to secure the services of on-loan midfielder Javier Mascherano on a permanent basis.

But the Spaniard sounded upbeat about the future on Friday, saying he would like to still be in charge when Liverpool move into the new stadium and voicing confidence that a deal to buy Mascherano would be done once the planned sale of Momo Sissoko to Juventus has been completed.

He said: "We are working on Sissoko's future, and we are close to a final solution. And I am confident that Mascherano will stay with us - the money from a transfer for Sissoko can certainly help. I talked with Mascherano this week and he wants to stay here. I believe he will."

Benitez added that his contacts with Gillett and Hicks this week had been positive. "We want to bring fantastic players to this club in the future, that is the aim. I have seen the new stadium plans, I hope to be here when it opens." In a statement, Hicks said that all outstanding differences with Benitez had been resolved.

"Since the meeting with Rafa on December 16, at which some widely reported communications issues were discussed, Rafa has been assured that he has continuing and enthusiastic support as the club's manager," Hicks wrote.

"Reflecting that support, Kop Holdings recently approved his transfer payment request to sign Martin Skrtel for 6.5 million pounds and is in discussions with Rafa and club management regarding additional player signings this summer. "Rafa is under contract for two more seasons following this season. I am solidly behind Rafa and am confident of the team's competitive prospects under his continuing leadership."

The construction of the new stadium, which will have an 18,500-seat single tier stand behind one of the goals in a recreation of Anfield's famous Kop end, is to be project managed by KUD International, an American group which managed construction of the Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field and the San Francisco Giants' AT and T Park.

The new stadium will be the second largest of any club in England, with only Manchester United's 76,000-capacity Old Trafford bigger. With Anfield, the club's home for over a century, holding only 45,400, the switch to the new stadium will significantly enhance Liverpool's match-day revenue from ticket sales and hospitality, although some sceptics have questioned whether they will be able to consistently fill such a large stadium.