India’s richest man is eyeing off a takeover of Liverpool.  The Times says Liverpool emerged as a takeover target for the seventh-richest man in the world last night as the pressure mounted on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to cut a deal to sell Anfield.

Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest man in India, is one of two tycoons from the sub-continent competing to buy a stake in the Merseyside club.

The Sahara Group’s chairman, Subrata Roy, and Ambani’s Reliance Industries have each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool’s £237 million debt in return for a 51 per cent stake in the club.

Last night Christian Purslow, the Liverpool chief executive, denied any knowledge of either bid, but The Times reports that approaches began as early as November and that some preliminary talks have taken place.

Ambani, 52, is said to be worth $19.5 billion (about £12.5 billion) — more than the combined worth of Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich — from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.

If it is true, I am happy over the moon.

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The Professional Footballers’ Association are hoping to create official fan pages on Facebook for every player in the country as a way of protecting their members against the pitfalls of social media, reports the Daily Mail.

A number of high-profile players have found themselves in trouble with their clubs after using social networking sites, most notably the likes of Liverpool’s Ryan Babel, Hull’s Jozy Altidore and Sunderland striker Darren Bent, who used Twitter to vent his frustration over his protracted move from Tottenham.

Now the PFA have stepped in with a plan to create official pages for all professional players.

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor said: “The PFA are constantly monitoring the way their members are represented in all forms of the media.

“With Facebook continuing to grow, the union are proud to enable the association to bring players and fans closer together in a monitored environment for each professional.”

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Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is being linked with Rafa Benitez’s job at Liverpool. Former Birmingham City chairman David Gold is backing Brum boss Alex McLeish to be a success at Liverpool.

The Sun says calls for Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish to step in as an emergency caretaker intensified yesterday.

Owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett must re- finance the debt they accrued buying Liverpool so cannot promise a huge transfer kitty for any new boss.

They believe Birmingham manager McLeish would be the ideal manager to get the best out of the current squad and operate within a limited budget.

The Scot has 18 months left on his Brum deal, worth around £800,000 a year.

Liverpool believe they would have to pay around £1million compensation to get their man now but a lot less if they wait until the summer.

Big Eck has led the Blues on a record-breaking unbeaten 14-match run.

And McLeish, who will be 51 on Thursday, could be handed an early birthday present if Liverpool decide to replace Rafa Benitez.

Gold told The Sun: “If the moment came when Liverpool were to make a move for him, I know he would be a huge success.

“If he were to go to Liverpool, I know he would do a fantastic job – he has everything going for him. The man is pure quality and within 20 minutes of meeting him I knew he was the right guy to follow Steve Bruce.

“His results spoke entirely for themselves, so once that had been looked at there were two other essentials – TV appearances and how he interacted with the chairman.

“On both fronts he scored 10 out of 10. He’s calm and composed on the box and it became very clear from a 20-minute conversation that he would be an ideal person as far as a chairman/boss relationship was concerned.

“People underestimate the effect of TV but I consider it very important and Alex handles it very well. He is entirely at home with big-name players after managing Scotland and is a very resolute individual who has tremendous faith in his own ability.

“The big thing is he can handle failure and setbacks. Any fool can manage a football club when things are going well. It’s when the surprise defeats come along that you realise what they are made of and we had a few of those at Birmingham.

“But Alex doesn’t panic and start going off in different directions. He is totally single-minded and, as he has now shown, given the time he can produce the goods. You ask if he could manage Liverpool and the answer is of course ‘Yes’ but in fact I have no doubt he could manage Manchester United were Sir Alex Ferguson to make a sudden retirement.”

However, can Alex Mcleish manages big star names at Liverpool? Steve, Torres, Kuyt, and etc.

Source: Tribal football

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