American Reds backing Benitez

Benitez will surely be alarmed about the revelation that the former Germany coach, who will take the Bayern Munich hotseat at the end of the season, was sounded out about becoming the club's next manager.

"We never reached agreement on an option with Jurgen, and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany and coach a great club team." Hicks told the Liverpool Echo. "Rafa has both of our support, and our communication has greatly improved."

He added: "We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy to have him [Klinsmann] become manager if Rafael left for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the press - or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason.

"After George and I had our long and productive meeting with Rafa following the Manchester United match, we put all of our issues behind us and received Rafa's commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool."

The article also claims that had Liverpool tumbled out of the Champions League, the owners would have tried to replace Benitez.

However, Benitez steered the team through with a crucial victory against Marseille in France.

Klinsmann's name has been linked with Liverpool since November.

It is believed to be the root cause of Benitez's testy media conference then when he had been told to concentrate on running his team by the owners.

Despite the backing of the owners, winning the FA Cup may be the minimum requirement for Benitez to stay in his job come the summer.