Hicks on Benitez's future and new player deals.

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has spoken of his delight at pinning manager Rafael Benitez down to a new five-year contract and insisted he was "never worried" about his future.   

Hicks has, unlike George Gillett, been a staunch supporter of Benitez throughout the troubled times and contract wrangle. And he, like Benitez, was concerned about the role being played by chief executive Rick Parry. Although Parry will leave Anfield in the summer it could be six-nine months before the Reds install a full-time replacement.

While there are as yet no firm plans over the proposed new stadium in Stanley Park, Hicks was adamant the project would eventually come to fruition.

"I was never worried we would lose Rafa Benitez,'' Hicks told Sky Sports News, with the Spanish coach now signed up until 2014. "These things are complicated. A five-year contract is complicated, so I'm just relieved we finally got it done.

"From the supporters' point of view, to have it done on top of such a great week on the pitch is great. We have a chance to catch Manchester United. It's not a great chance, but it's a chance.''

Hicks blamed the media for portraying Liverpool as a club in the middle of an internal war, insisting the situation had been blown out of proportion.

"That was in the media but it was never really true,'' he said. "I sat down with Rafa a couple of months ago and he made it very clear that he knows a manager can't have control over transfer budget.

"He has had his frustrations over the last five years and those are well chronicled but he will make the recommendations about which players we sign and the new CEO, the owners and the board will make the final financial commitment. And that is the way it needs to be.''

More to follow

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=629384&sec=england&cc=4716


Meanwhile, Benitez set to tie star players to longer deals.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will make the long-term future of his star players the number one priority after penning a new contract of his own to run until the summer of 2014.


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Rafa Benitez: Finally signed new contract

Anfield had been in danger of falling into a state of limbo should their manager have been allowed to enter the final year of his deal without an agreement over a renewal, but Wednesday evening's news brought that to a close.

It capped off an amazing seven days for the Meseyside club after they smashed four goals past Real Madrid and Manchester United to make the quarter-finals of the keep alive their hopes of a first League title since 1990.

With Rick Parry departing the club at the end of the season, news which no doubt speeded up the Spaniard's decision to put pen to paper after a long-running power struggle, Benitez should now have full control over player contracts.

• FRIDAY'S LIVE DRAWS: Champions League (11.00 GMT) | UEFA Cup (12.00 GMT)

Benitez is expected to move to tie Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and goalkeeper Jose Reina to deals which will keep them at the club throughout his tenure.

The boss is also thought to have been promised a competitive transfer kitty for the summer with Liverpool needing to strengthen in all areas is they are to build a squad capable of handling the rigours of a long season.

The 48-year-old will be in the box seat when it comes to transfers, too, after missing out on Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry next summer. Benitez feels that he would have been successful in his pursuit of the England international had he organised the negotiations.

Benitez will now be able to plan Liverpool's future in the long term, and said after signing the new deal: "My heart is with Liverpool, so I'm delighted to sign this new deal.

"I love the club, the fans and the city and, with a club like this and supporters like this, I could never say no to staying.

"I always made clear I wanted to be here for a long time and, when I complete my new contract, it will mean I have spent over a decade in Liverpool.

"The club is greatly respected around the world due to its incredible history and tremendous heritage.

"It is my aim to uphold those values and help create a new chapter in our history. Throughout this process, I would like to thank the owners for their hard work in finalising the deal.

"All of us at the club want the same thing, which is to be successful by winning major trophies."

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All in all I feel that all this is getting positive. The owners spat with Rafa really seems to be resolved, they are looking ever likely to work with each other. Whether Hicks is still a c**t, its hard to tell and I don't know, but definitely I feel he is finally starting to uphold the traditions of the club. It's been a long time now that the spat has been in public. Although Hicks admits that the Stanley park project is delayed, but at least now he got the balls not to deny it.

Rafa signed the contract on the basis that he would finally get his wish on transfers and the owners' future. If the owners are looking to make and cash in on a quick buck I dont know its hard to tell. But Rafa sees the effort from the owners and that is why he signed the contract. Although I expect the transfer budget to be quite hefty, and probably the owners also sacked Parry.

To me this season the owners, although still not fully trustable, have made an effort despite their money tightness and that is what I feel is more important. They too got some advice from Randy Lerner, probably the best owner in the EPL.

However we still have to be wary of the owners.

Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

I do hope Rafa gets a nice sum of money in the summer, and then he can go on to buy David Villa i would love him to come to Anfield, also I think David Silva would fit in very nicely on the left flank.

Some 'young' world class English players too.

I do hope Rafa gets a nice sum of money in the summer, and then he can go on to buy David Villa I would love him to come to Anfield, also I think David Silva would fit in very nicely on the left flank.

All I ask is no more squad players I would rather have just one world class player than 2 or 3 Bellamy's or Crouches. If possible another Torres/ Gerrard would be good.I have no opinion on the owners I have no relationship with them. I care about the team and Rafa, as long as the owners do the right thing financially I could not care if we never hear from them again.

I'm so glad Benitez is staying, hes a class manager.

I do hope Rafa gets a nice sum of money in the summer, and then he can go on to buy David Villa I would love him to come to Anfield, also I think David Silva would fit in very nicely on the left flank.

I totally agree, David Villa would be an awesome buy, and Silva is a great young player. A Football Manager desciption would be 'Wonderkid'

We won't get David Villa. He's said on a number of occasions that he has no desire to play in England. Man City may be able to tempt him with 200,000 grand a week, but I don't think we're going to be able to do that.

David Silva on the other hand is a different matter.

Man City are ruining the Premiership with their money, it p*sses me off!!

Man City are ruining the Premiership with their money, it p*sses me off!!

They might be ruining the premiership with their money but paradoxically they're having no effect on it.

Getting a bit off-topic here talking about Man City, I feel.

Whilst I'm not a fan of Hicks (understatement of the year?) I'm glad he's given Rafa the right contract, one where he can prove his worth in the transfer market, and make the right player choices for the needs of the team.

I'm very keen for the summer deals to start happening. Yes, the budget will undoubtedly be tight, but the targets, and timing of the deals, could hopefully make a difference.

In the past Rafa has clearly been frustrated at the length of time it's taken to make an offer, which has often left us rushing around at the last minute. In theory there should be none of that going on this time, and it would be nice if he could make some of his connections in Spain to work to our advantage.

Interesting times!

I do hope Rafa gets a nice sum of money in the summer, and then he can go on to buy David Villa I would love him to come to Anfield, also I think David Silva would fit in very nicely on the left flank.

would love to see those two come to anfield.. especially after last year villa openly saying he wants to be a red...
also valencia's financial condition is no secret..
hope it comes off..

would love to see those two come to anfield.. especially after last year villa openly saying he wants to be a red...
also valencia's financial condition is no secret..
hope it comes off..

Yeh he did say that, if he is going to be tempted to come over here and play, I will stick my nose out and say it will be with Liverpool, we have so many players that he gets along well with and he knows well. Plus Villa is a true football man, I doubt he would go to City just because they can pay him alot of money, also just think about it, im sure he could live very nicely off 90,000 - 100,000 grand a week we could pay him, he doesn't need double that.

Still don't like these yanks, but things are moving in a positive direction, but wheres the stadium and lets just see what Rafa gets as a budget for next season and i do believe we will be in new ownership next season so lets see what they bring, but if any new owners come in at least now with Rafa under contract all they need to do is build the stadium.

Yes, Villa said he has no intentions of playing in England. Now, I am not saying he will, BUT if I am not mistaken, Torres said that once   (when he was at AM)  but I think with Rafa's influence and his Spanish squad friends> HE MAY CONSIDER

People have short memories, Hicks is a c*nt that has ruined every club he has being involved with, when is that lying pr*ck going to start the stadium, he has yet to put in a cent of his own money into the club, he has just thrown debt on the club, while he is involved in the club we will be shopping in the bargain basement, any big names we signed were signed before the credit crunch, how are we going to catch utd if we can't compete financially with them, Hicks is the worst thing to happen the club and to be honest feel like crying after reading that he plans to be here from the long term. Shame on any Liverpool fan that questions if he has changed.

People have short memories, Hicks is a c*nt that has ruined every club he has being involved with, when is that lying pr*ck going to start the stadium, he has yet to put in a cent of his own money into the club, he has just thrown debt on the club, while he is involved in the club we will be shopping in the bargain basement, any big names we signed were signed before the credit crunch, how are we going to catch utd if we can't compete financially with them, Hicks is the worst thing to happen the club and to be honest feel like crying after reading that he plans to be here from the long term. Shame on any Liverpool fan that questions if he has changed.

He's also given Rafa the contract he wanted, so I feel that's enough for us for now.

I do hope Rafa gets a nice sum of money in the summer, and then he can go on to buy David Villa I would love him to come to Anfield, also I think David Silva would fit in very nicely on the left flank.

Villa n Torres doesnt really work.. Torres best game at the Euro's was when Villa wasnt playing...

Silva will be a great addition and more likely financially

how are we going to catch utd if we can't compete financially with them

Just find another Skrtel who cost what was it 6 or 7 million compared to United's 30 for Ferdinand? Or maybe another Torres who was what 20 million compared to the 60 spent on Berbatov and Rooney? Or maybe another central midfield pairing of Xabi/Masch for a total of 32 million compared to the 40 million of Carrick/Hargreaves.

Believe it or not Liverpool have a squad as good as anything in the world. What Liverpool don't have is consistantcy and even with all the money in the world that can't be bought. A lot of players are very hot and cold whereas United's are very much at the same level.

Take Benayoun and Park as the example. Now given the choice I'd take Benayoun every day and that's not being biased but Park is on a more consistant level. The way Yossi will play brilliant one week like he did against Chelsea at Anfield, the following game against Everton he was awful. Park on the other hand is never a world beater but is never the worst either. That's the biggest difference, United's less special players are always consistant but Liverpool's are hot and cold.

if we win the CL this year.we would have a big amount of money come in the club.i think its around £40m.plus the £12m from sold keane.then we can sign some big play. david silva left wing. a young and talented right back.and then maybe villa replace kuyt attacting from the right.and keep agger!

Before we decide on who to buy next season, I think it's much more important that we tie our current players to new deals especially Arbeloa, Kuyt and Agger.

We don't need another World Class striker.
We need wingers I guess, with pace and can put a killer ball into the box.

silva can put a killer ball in the box.pace is not bad either.villa can play attacking right wing.and when torre get injured villa can also play striker.

Before we decide on who to buy next season, I think it's much more important that we tie our current players to new deals especially Arbeloa, Kuyt and Agger.

We don't need another World Class striker.
We need wingers I guess, with pace and can put a killer ball into the box.

I agree about getting our existing players on extended contracts,as regards new signings i suspect RAFA has already set the wheels in motion and I do not think he will let us down.

Although Hicks is making all the right noises, can we trust a man who has left this club with a big overdraft, He has still to show he can pay of the bank whilst backing Rafa with hard cash for players, if he does that then he will be some of the way there.

His first piece of business should be to back Rafa with a couple of big signing just to show he wants what we want. Once that's done he should let the team go Rafa's way with no interference.

I still think he will sell up and return to what he knows other wise if he wants a successful LFC he shall have to put in a lot more than he has done.

Then there is Gillett who has kept quiet in all this and it looks like he is the unwilling partner who wants nothing to do with us and that still makes for an unworkable pairing. If Hicks wants to stay and make a go of it he will have to buy Gillett out.

I know I'm of topic but without Gillett how can anything work as he has the same No. of votes has Hicks has in the boardroom...........

If Hicks is so dedicated to the Liverpool cause why doesnt he sell up the Texas Rangers baseball crap and pile that money from that sale into building us a new F***ing stadium. This whole business is one big PR stunt on his behalf go fcuk your self fatty I dont believe a word you say.

"I'll be here in 5 years, and er... I think, George will be here"

Crawl back in to whatever slop you crawled out from, and never bother this club again!

Rafael Benitez given £30m Liverpool war chest (Times online)

Rafael Benítez will be given at least £30 million to spend on new players this summer as he embarks on his mission to restore Liverpool to pre-eminence in English football after signing a new five-year contract.

The Spaniard retains a slight hope of overhauling Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League this season as well as making another serious challenge for the Champions League, where Liverpool and the three other English clubs will discover their quarter-final opponents this morning, but he is also building for the next campaign. His scouts are compiling reports on several wingers, including Aaron Lennon, of Tottenham Hotspur, and Antonio Valencia, of Wigan Athletic, as well as looking for a centre forward who can fill the void left by Robbie Keane’s brief, ill-fated spell at Anfield.

The Liverpool manager was criticised for selling Keane back to Tottenham in January and not replacing him, but the minimum £10 million fee raised in that deal has boosted his transfer budget to £30 million. Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the club’s American owners, have also allowed Benítez to reinvest any money raised by selling players such as Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen, and offloading Jermaine Pennant and Andriy Voronin, who are on loan at Portsmouth and Hertha Berlin respectively. Further funds could be generated depending on how much the club earn in prize money in the Champions League between now and May.

Another priority is to secure the long-term futures of several of his squad and, while the immediate priorities are Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt, Álvaro Arbeloa and Fábio Aurélio, whose deals expire in 15 months, Benítez has already pledged to give Fernando Torres a pay rise.

The Spain forward will be offered an improvement on the £90,000-a-week, six-year contract he signed when he joined from Atlético Madrid in 2007, reflecting his status as one of the best strikers in the world.

Benítez inquired about Lennon, 21, during negotiations in the deal that took Keane to Tottenham and his interest has increased with the youngster’s impressive form in recent weeks, but other candidates, such as Valencia and David Silva, the Valencia midfield player, are under consideration. He is also casting his net wide in search of a centre forward, but David Villa, Silva’s team-mate, is out of Liverpool’s price range and is expected, in any case, to move to Barcelona or Real Madrid in the summer.

Under the terms of his new contract, which is worth £4.75 million a year, Benítez will have far greater control over transfers than last summer, when his bid to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa was vetoed by the board. But Hicks was eager to emphasise that the manager will have to work with a chief executive when a replacement for Rick Parry, the chief executive who is standing down in the summer, is found.

“I sat down with Rafa a couple of months ago and he made it very clear that he knows a manager can’t have control over the transfer budget,” Hicks said. “He has had his frustrations over the last five years and those are well chronicled, but he will make the recommendations about which players we sign and the new CEO, the owners and the board will make the final financial commitment. And that is the way it needs to be.”

Benítez has secured written assurances that add to his power at the club. He has been promised overall control of football matters, including, significantly, overseeing the youth academy, which has been outside his remit. These concessions from the board were instrumental in his rejection of overtures from suitors such as Atlético Madrid, an Italian club and an unofficial approach from a third party claiming to represent a Premier League club, thought to be Chelsea or Manchester City.

Contrary to popular belief, Benítez did not receive nor encourage an approach from Real Madrid, who are expected to try to entice Carlo Ancelotti from AC Milan to replace Juande Ramos in the summer.

£30million, would be nice as long as the player(s) is(are) of a high standard, and not overpriced rubbish, sounds a lot moular, but remember Keane cost £20m (approx), but then again Torres cost only a little more and has delivered so much more. So we will have to see.

Ofcourse Hicks may be bullshitting again to take some of the pressure off him, as he his constantly trying to be the nice guy, where is this money coming from, and why was it not available in the winter? Is there new investment coming in, or is it future prize money, EPL & CL?

He says it will be available from selling players, the ones mentioned I think will not equate to £20mil.

Remembering £30mil is now €30mil, not the usual €40mil we were used too.

Of course he is bullsh8tting this is one of the men that was trying to line up Klinsmann behind Rafa back, the only reason he has given Rafa backing is because he thinks it is a way of winning over the fans. Do you know what you can do Tom, start the stadium immediately(I think you said 60 days after you arrived) stop putting debt onto the club(you said when you arrived no debt would be put onto the club) put some of your own money into transfers and properly back us in the transfer market, no more bargain basement signing we are meant to be the number 1 club in europe how many more clubs have larger transfer budgets than us(remember you said if Rafa wants Snoop Dog i'l get him Snoop Dog), If you don't do these things you can f*ck off and sell the club to someone who will.

30 million, if it really comes true then mmm. Also when Alex retires we can look forward to a spell of dominance.

I really hope we get David Silva because he is the player we need .... can break stupid teams like stoke and all down and can put a killer ball in the box and can create space for himself to pass ! I think he'll be great I'm so happy Rafa is considering him ! I think he might go due to Valencias financial crisis ! I really hope we see him in a red jersey next season he'll be great ans will mix with the other Spanish chicos of our club ! As for Villa he will be way out of our price range and i think Nando doesn't need him upfront ... anyways hope to see some good transfers taking place next season !

Is it just me that thinks FAT HEAD loves telling us what we want to hear.
I wont trust him till i see a shuvel in stanly park and his hand in his pocket.

Still don't like these yanks, but things are moving in a positive direction

Away from Anfield is the only positive direction these pair can move in.

The Liverpool manager was criticised for selling Keane back to Tottenham in January and not replacing him, but the minimum £10 million fee raised in that deal has boosted his transfer budget to £30 million. Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the club’s American owners, have also allowed Benítez to reinvest any money raised by selling players such as Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen, and offloading Jermaine Pennant and Andriy Voronin, who are on loan at Portsmouth and Hertha Berlin respectively. Further funds could be generated depending on how much the club earn in prize money in the Champions League between now and May.

Ofcourse Hicks may be bullshitting again to take some of the pressure off him, as he his constantly trying to be the nice guy, where is this money coming from, and why was it not available in the winter? Is there new investment coming in, or is it future prize money, EPL & CL?

He says it will be available from selling players, the ones mentioned I think will not equate to £20mil.

I think the breakdown of the funds seems to be £10 million from Keane + £20 million from future prize money and other players sales, as you say.

I don't think the owners will be putting any of their (or the banks) money into the kitty again this summer.

I think the breakdown of the funds seems to be £10 million from Keane + £20 million from future prize money and other players sales, as you say.

I don't think the owners will be putting any of their (or the banks) money into the kitty again this summer.

As long as the fat cu*ts dont put the money into the pocket I don't mind, 30 million is already a big sum of money I think its enough we dont really have much to complain about though.

All great players, bar Valencia who is a good player. Wouldnt mind any but how many times have i read something like this and nothing happened?

Do the usual and just wait and see.

hicks could be sayin how happy he is and before we know it,he may be gone by the time he agrees some fee with DIC,walkin away with some large profit and he can sit back in his home countin and sniggering... he better start with the stadium soon...we cant wait forever to catch with the other clubs financially...
but with the credit crunch not endin soon,and the stadium not even close to being started yet,we can only rely on rafa and his spanish influence make some good bargains and bring in some match-winners...
meanwhile,we can win do the double and break the lousy devil's hearts to prove that we are the best in the world.afterall, we already totally owned their pathetic twice this season with another one in the champions' league final!

Away from Anfield is the only positive direction these pair can move in.

Iagree JD, and reading between the lines of Hick's statement it appears that what I said in the takeover thread is about to happen. that is Gillette will sell his stake to a third party and walk away with a nice profit, whereas fatty will retain a minority steak in the club, let the new owners finance/build the new stadium and then sell up in 4/5 years time when the value of the club has sky rocketed to 1 billion. What a pr*ck.

Away from Anfield is the only positive direction these pair can move in.

Stanley park???
Do you not think that before the credit Crunch the Yanks knew that a new stadium would bring them more revenue/profit.
It`s why they signed on.Hicks and Gillette arn`t mugs.They just signed Rafa on a new 5 yr deal,Top players are expected to follow.The Yanks know that spending profits on the club/team make the club/team more profitable/sucessfull.Dogging on the yanks is an easy Kop out.Parry is leaving,Rafa is supreme boss and we have 30 million to spend on a team that is close to perfection(Rafa style).We need to spend on our Bench,30 million should do it!!!!!!
 

ONE QUESTION?



Would we be happy with Billionaire owners that can build a Pl/CL winning team that didn`t need a bigger stadium to finance 30 million pound signings????we could stay at Anfield and win the PL/CL on a regular basis???

They say something, then change their views, and think we are F***ing too thick to remember things. They are treating us with F***ing contempt, like we don't matter to them.

Hicks believes the proposed new stadium, currently on hold, "is going to happen". Similarly his co-owner George Gillett promised this, that it would happen, within 60 days work would start. This was 2 years ago. Don't hold it against us, if we don't quite believe you Tom.

Basically Tom, We don't buy your PR spin. We don't buy your cosy little chats with Sky Sports News, courtesy of your PR company friends at Freuds, ran by Matthew Freud who is married to Elizabeth Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Sky. Like a family tea party. We don't buy the spin about how your son proposed to his now wife on the pitch at Anfield, or about how you watched the match with "10 scousers". We don't care for you dragging the family out of bed to watch a game, sitting in front of the fire with your Liverpool mug, and telling us Everton won't like that. You aren't like us, you aren't one of us, and never will be liked by any of us. Tell your mate George too.

very pleased that Rafa has signed a new contract that i feel is a positive move ,money for new players?..you don't get a lot for £ 30 million so he has to spend /invest wisely or get rid of some surplus to requirement players to boost his spending power and cut wage bills, no doubt the scouts have people in mind already but it's an absolute must to ensure his present stars are signed up and happy first

They say something, then change their views, and think we are f**king too thick to remember things. They are treating us with f**king contempt, like we don't matter to them.

Hicks believes the proposed new stadium, currently on hold, "is going to happen". Similarly his co-owner George Gillett promised this, that it would happen, within 60 days work would start. This was 2 years ago. Don't hold it against us, if we don't quite believe you Tom.

Basically Tom, We don't buy your PR spin. We don't buy your cosy little chats with Sky Sports News, courtesy of your PR company friends at Freuds, ran by Matthew Freud who is married to Elizabeth Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Sky. Like a family tea party. We don't buy the spin about how your son proposed to his now wife on the pitch at Anfield, or about how you watched the match with "10 scousers". We don't care for you dragging the family out of bed to watch a game, sitting in front of the fire with your Liverpool mug, and telling us Everton won't like that. You aren't like us, you aren't one of us, and never will be liked by any of us. Tell your mate George too.

Excellent post.

I do hope he gets quite a bit of money.

Ashley young, Villa will be a few choices

Basically Tom, We don't buy your PR spin. We don't buy your cosy little chats with Sky Sports News, courtesy of your PR company friends at Freuds, ran by Matthew Freud who is married to Elizabeth Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Sky. Like a family tea party. We don't buy the spin about how your son proposed to his now wife on the pitch at Anfield, or about how you watched the match with "10 scousers". We don't care for you dragging the family out of bed to watch a game, sitting in front of the fire with your Liverpool mug, and telling us Everton won't like that. You aren't like us, you aren't one of us, and never will be liked by any of us. Tell your mate George too.

Spot on-its all F***ing spin the murdoch connection is the nail in the coffin and one things for sure it won't be LFC in the box.

Silva would fit in better than Villa for us.

Think there would be jealousy between Villa & Torres, don't think they are perfect match, not like Gerrard + Torres.