利物浦可能无法保住托雷斯

Fernando Torres future under threat as banks keep watchful eye on Liverpool

面临银行逼债的利物浦可能无法保住托雷斯

Oliver Kay

奥利弗.凯

Liverpool must repay £31.5 million to banking institutions in little more than a year or risk having to sell Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel.

利物浦必须在1年多的时间里向银行支付3150万镑，否则他们可能不得不出售托雷斯和巴贝尔。

The Times has learnt that Liverpool borrowed the money to sign Torres, the Spain forward who has scored 30 goals this season and has already become a firm favourite on the Kop, from Atlético Madrid last summer. The club then refinanced that debt on January 25, at the same time as they secured a £350 million refinancing package.

泰晤士报了解到利物浦去年夏天为了从马竞签下本赛季已经打进30球的西班牙前锋托雷斯而贷款，他也成了利物浦球迷的宠儿。俱乐部今年1月25日又再融资。现在他们的债务已达3.5亿英镑。

Liverpool entered into an 18-month loan agreement with interest of 9 per cent — £2.8 million a year — with a letter of credit to pay back the £31.5 million at the end of the period.

利物浦的贷款期是18个月，利率9%，也就是每年280万镑。最后他们要支付3150万镑。

Should Liverpool be unable to pay back or refinance the loan, banks could force the sale of Torres and Babel, who was also included in the smaller refinancing package.

如果利物浦到时未能还钱，银行会迫使他们出售托雷斯。

It is unusual for Barclays Premier League clubs to buy players in this way. Deals are normally funded using television income. Liverpool have to pay £30 million a year in interest payments on the £350 million loan, the terms of which end in July 2009. There was no official comment from the club last night.

EPL球队很少用这种方式购买球员。一般都是用电视转播费来签。利物浦每年要为了那3.5亿的债务支付3000万镑。2009年7月到期。昨晚俱乐部还没有官方消息。

The revelations came on a day when the turmoil at Anfield reached a nadir after Tom Hicks attempted to strengthen his grip on the club during an interview in which he demonised his enemies inside and outside Anfield. However, the Liverpool co-owner has only six weeks to raise the funds he needs if he is to achieve his goal of buying the club outright.

昨天希克斯在电视访问中说自己要加强对俱乐部的控制，这也让安菲尔德的内乱达到了高峰。不过他只有6周时间增持股份以达到买下利物浦的目的。

Having continued his assault on Rick Parry by calling his tenure as chief executive “a disaster”, Hicks admitted that his joint-ownership venture with George Gillett Jr had proved unworkable, but he is looking for the funds that would help him to buy Gillett’s 50 per cent stake and to “fix the entire financial structure of the club” while overseeing the construction of a new 70,000-capacity stadium in Stanley Park.

他继续攻击里克.佩里，说他的领导就是场“灾难”。希克斯承认他与合作伙伴小乔治.吉列的关系已经破裂。但他还在寻找资金来购买吉列的50%股份以便“完全控制俱乐部”。利物浦正在斯坦利公园修建一个70,000人的新体育场。

Gillett responded last night with a strongly worded statement in which he accused his co-owner of destabilising the club. “I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks,” he said. “If Tom wanted a serious discussion on the issues to help the club move forward, he should bring his views to the board.

吉列昨晚强硬的回应，他指控自己的合作伙伴正在毁灭球队。“我对希克斯的爆发感到悲哀，”他说“如果他想进行严肃的对话来帮助俱乐部前进，他应该跟董事会说。

“Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his public comments. Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position.

“我们现在距离关键的冠军杯半决赛只有几天了，他再次公开制造麻烦。希克斯应该停下。他知道里克.佩里有我的支持，这么说改变不了什么。

“Tom needs to understand that I will not sell my shares to him.”

“希克斯应该明白，我不会把自己的股份卖给他的。”

Hicks was typically bullish about his prospects of raising the money — or, perhaps more realistically, finding the financial backing — but while he continues to explore his options with Merrill Lynch, his latest financial adviser, the clock is ticking.

希克斯对赚钱很感兴趣，或者说是贷款。但他现在的财务顾问美林都不感兴趣。

Hicks has denied rumours in the City that he is under pressure to refinance his Hicks Sports Group, which holds his stakes in various sports franchises in the United States, but a deadline is looming to buy Gillett’s stake, which is the subject of a rival bid from Dubai International Capital (DIC), the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai Government.

希克斯否认了坊间流传的他继续为自己的体育集团再融资的消息，通过这家公司他持有不少美国体育组织的股份。但买下吉列的股份很难。现在由政府背景的PE，迪拜国际资本（DIC）也提出了报价。

Under the terms of their takeover 14 months ago, Hicks has pre-emption rights on Gillett’s stake in Liverpool and vice versa. That option is understood to expire 90 days after he was informed of DIC’s £200 million offer to Gillett, which was made on February 27. That period would expire on May 27, six days after the Champions League final in Moscow.

14个月前的收购协议中，希克斯和吉列都有收购对方股权的优先权。但DIC对吉列的股权提出2亿英镑报价后的90天，也就是5月27日，该协议就会失效。那是在冠军杯决赛后的第6天。

Hicks, though, maintains that he will be in charge of Liverpool for the long term, which would be bad news for Parry. “What has happened under Rick has been a disaster,” Hicks told Sky Sports News. “We have fallen so far behind the other clubs. We have still got the top brand in the world of football, but that’s no good if you don’t know how to commercialise it. Rick needs to resign. You have to be able to work with the manager and Rick has proved he can’t do that.”

希克斯现在还坚持自己将长期指掌利物浦，这对佩里不是好消息。“里克的领导就像是灾难，”希克斯告诉天空体育。“相比其他顶级球队我们落后了。我们还是足球世界的大牌，但如果你不知道如何用它赚钱就太糟了。里克应该辞职。你必须与经理合作，但里克证明他做不到。”

Parry, who responded with a rigorous defence of his record, will not resign and is under no pressure to do so, given that only two of the club’s six directors want him to go.

佩里为自己做了辩护，他不会在压力下辞职。俱乐部的6个董事中只有2个希望他走。

Hicks said that, if he succeeds in buying Liverpool outright, he will offer Benítez a one-year extension to his contract, which expires in 2010, but, despite his newfound alliance with the manager, he remains unpopular with supporters.

希克斯说如果他成功的买下利物浦，他会给贝尼特斯续约1年。但即便他与经理结成了同盟，球迷们也不喜欢他。