Anfield in crisis: Liverpool future in doubt as owners consider selling out for £50m profit

The offer from DIC, the investment arm of the Dubai government, could land millionaires George Gillett junior and Tom Hicks with a staggering profit of £50m, less than a year after their own takeover and without them having put a single dollar of their own money into the club.

Such an outcome would enrage Liverpool fans already dismayed by their team's lack of progress towards becoming genuine Premier League contenders since the arrival of Gillett and Hicks.

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Liverpool face Aston Villa tomorrow with their hopes of a title challenge already conceded by influential defender Jamie Carragher to be virtually non-existent.

Despite the temptation to cash in, Hicks and Gillett are understood to be planning to cling on to control of the club and go ahead with their intention to take out £350m in refinancing loans.

The worrying downside to that venture would be the crippling effect on the transfer plans of manager Rafael Benitez and the fear that it could be the first step towards a Leeds United-style meltdown.

Neither DIC nor the club's bankers, the Royal Bank of Scotland, would allow that to happen and they will hold crisis talks this week to discuss how the Dubai company could rescue Liverpool from crisis, on and off the field.

Gillett and Hicks are close to finalising a restructuring package with RBS, who loaned them £220m to buy Liverpool last February, and American bank Wachovia. The new £350m loan would cover the Americans' original borrowing, the money the club raised to buy players last summer and the start-up costs for a new stadium project.

But City observers believe the new loans would be merely a 'sticking plaster' for the problems at Liverpool and would leave them unable to compete with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea because of crippling £30m-a-year interest charges.

There are even fears that any future failure to qualify for the Champions League could leave the club vulnerable to the kind of downward spiral suffered by Leeds. RBS, who have a long relationship with Liverpool, are so concerned about the deal that a senior figure in the bank has been called in to oversee the delicate negotiations.

But with fans due to mount a huge demonstration against the Americans at Anfield tomorrow, the pressure on them to walk away is increasing by the day.

Hicks, however, is playing hardball, refusing to be forced into accepting DIC's current price for the shares and believing that, if the refinancing goes through, he will be in a stronger negotiating position.

For their part, DIC will not pay a price which does not make commercial sense under their own plans and are prepared to bide their time.

Gillett has found himself embarrassed and annoyed by the way Hicks has conducted himself, particularly in the clumsy confirmation of an approach to former Germany World Cup manager Jurgen Klinsmann over replacing Benitez. But sources suggested last night that Hicks is now likely to fall into line with the Texan.

Gillett, asset-rich but cashpoor, has found himself in a kingmaker role and could still trigger a takeover by DIC by refusing to sign off the refinancing or even by joining forces with DIC to buy out Hicks.

But in recent days he has stepped back from those drastic courses of action in favour of proceeding with the new loan from RBS and Wachovia.

If DIC, which is headed by Liverpool fan Sameer al- Ansari, do move in, it is thought that they would retain Benitez as manager after the way he has kept up his team's challenge for trophies in a very difficult season.

Although Liverpool's homegrown stars, Steven Gerrard and Carragher, have declined to offer Benitez any public sympathy or support since his disenchantment with Hicks and Gillett became public in November, the manager said yesterday: 'We know we need to improve in the Premier League, but in the Champions League it's clear we have been the best English club over the past three seasons.'

Benitez also revealed that his players have quizzed him over events away from the field.

The Spaniard said: 'Some of the players, a lot of the players, have asked me: "What is going on?" The only thing I can say is to keep going and try to do our best.'

Benitez appeared optimistic about his chances of staying in the job when he added: 'I am thinking about the future —and the future does not just mean next week. It is next season and beyond.'