Morgan backs Anfield takeover

Steve Morgan, formerly Liverpool’s third largest shareholder, has given his backing to the new US takeover at Anfield.

The building and hotel entrepreneur had held 6% of Liverpool shares and had three times tried unsuccessfully to buy control from former chairman David Moores.

Now Morgan has revealed that he sold his holding prior to today’s final deadline set by new owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Morgan will have collected around £10m (€14.8m) for his stake, at £5,000 (€7,400) a share, while Moores has acquired £88m (€130m) for what was his controlling interest.

US sports moguls George Gillett and Tom Hicks are already guaranteed full ownership of Liverpool, having passed the 90% threshold, which means they can take the club into private ownership and will now never again have to hold an annual general meeting.

Shareholders who have not sold already will be forced to do so under a compulsory order.

Now Morgan has revealed a meeting with Gillett convinced him that the deal was right for the club’s future.

Morgan said: “I spoke to George Gillett and recognised he needed the 100% ownership, so I decided to sell my six per cent share holding to the new owners.

“He seemed a nice enough guy and we came to an understanding on the matter. I recognised the deal was going to go through.

“As a Liverpool fan, obviously it’s a sad day for me to have to sell my shares after 12 years ownership but it seemed to be in the best interests for the future.

“Now, like every supporter and shareholder, I wish George every success in his ownership of Liverpool.”

Gillett and Hicks will now begin the process of purchasing the shares, before formally taking control.

They hope that will happen before they return to England at the end of the week, when they plan to watch the home game with Arsenal and hold their promised meeting with manager Rafael Benitez over the long-term future of the club.

Benitez wants to discuss every aspect of the way forward with the new owners, including his transfer budget as well as plans for expanding and improving the commercial side as well as youth planning and training facilities.

The Americans also face more critical planning meetings as they make a decision on the future of the Stanley Park stadium following a review of design changes that can be made within the current constraints.