Defiant Benitez will not resign after Hicks comes clean on Klinsmann

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Confirmation of a secret meeting with Klinsmann — since appointed manager at Bayern Munich — at Hicks' holiday home in California nearly two months ago increased speculation that Benitez may be forced to accept that his positon has become untenable.

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Waiting in the wings: Klinsmann was sounded out to replace Benitez

But it is understood he is ready to stand firm in what is turning into a war of attrition between the Spaniard and Liverpool's American owners, Hicks and George Gillett.

As Anfield chief executive Rick Parry set up a meeting with Benitez to try to reassure him over his future, it emerged that the one-time Valencia coach may even have a case for constructive dismissal over the way Klinsmann was sounded out about replacing him.

Ex-Liverpool players such as Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson expressed their dismay at Hicks going public on his approach to Klinsmann, but Benitez was in no mood to play into his bosses' hands by walking away.

His agent, Manuel Garcia Quillon, underlined his defiant response by saying: 'Rafa wants to stay at Liverpool. He is happy with the club, the fans and the city. He does not want to leave.'

A parting of the ways still seems probable at the end of the season, though, according to Anfield insiders, but Benitez will dig his heels in for now and make the most of the public support and sympathy that is sure to follow the latest threat to his three-and-a-half year reign.

Confirming Sportsmail's account on Saturday of how Klinsmann was presented with a 'detailed' contract offer prior to accepting a proposition from Bayern to succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld in the summer, Hicks said: 'In November, when we were in danger of not advancing in the Champions League, not playing well in the Premier League and there were communication issues between Rafa and ourselves over the January transfer window, George and I met with Jurgen Klinsmann.

'We attempted to negotiate with him as an insurance policy, to have him become our manager in the event of Rafa leaving or our communication problems spiralling out of control.'

Hicks added that no agreement was reached and claimed that Benitez could now count on his and Gillett's support after a 'great improvement' in lines of communication.

Even so, the implication that Benitez would have been sacked had Liverpool failed to qualify from their Champions League group leaves a cloud over him, with a last-16 first leg meeting with Inter Milan barely a month away.