Liverpool’s American co-owner’s Tom Hicks and George Gillett have given no indication that they are to offer manager Rafa Benitez a new deal at Anfield. With the calm coming from the Red half of Merseyside after a summer of washing their dirty linen in public possibly a clear indication that the Americans have their eye firmly on an exit strategy from the Premier League.
Hicks and Gillett have already suspended work on the new Stanley Park Stadium indefinitely, since apparently patching up a reported “unworkable” partnership. With the Americans expected to sell the Reds in the coming months, with the Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed said to be joined by another prospective investor to have shown interest in the Premiership club.
Benitez has less than two years to run on his current contract at Anfield, with the absence of a new deal on the table firmly pointing to the Americans eying the exit door. Given that Liverpool have had their best start ever to a Premier League campaign and are joint-top with Chelsea it is not unreasonable to think that Benitez should be offered one. Hicks had claimed during the fallout with Gillett that he was to offer Benitez a new contract at Liverpool, but this did not materialise due to being unable to buy Gillett out of his stake of Anfield.
This situation has alerted clubs in the Spaniard’s homeland in La Liga, along with interest from Serie A, with Juventus putting the former Valencia boss on the top of their list to replace Claudio Ranieri at La Vecchia Signora. According to Tuttosport on Monday.
Benitez has clashed with the Anfield board on more than one occasion over transfer policy in the past. With the refusal of the Americans to back his bid for Gareth Barry at Aston Villa in the summer the latest, but despite this and no offer or even mention of talks on the horizon, Benitez insists that he is not concerned by his contract situation at the Reds and hopes to remain at Liverpool for many years.
“I'm not worried about the situation at the moment,” he said.
“I am trying to be pragmatic about it and am just concentrating on the things I can improve. It doesn't make it more difficult for me to plan for the future.
“I can only control things on the pitch and try to improve the squad. If I can do that, then things will be easier in the future.
“I'm really pleased and I have two more years [in fact a little over 18 months] left on my contract, so right now I'm just trying to do my job the best I can. I have always said I want to stay here for many years and I have the same idea now.”
However, if Liverpool are sold as expected there is no guarantee that the new regime will want to keep the Spaniard at the helm. So Benitez might have to carefully consider his future on Merseyside with an impending sale looming, which could pave the way for Juve to make their move.
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