Liverpool's board has sold its collective arse and roughly a third of the club for the equivalent of United's annual sponsorship deals. The Thai offer of around 55 million pounds is said to be made up of 35 million cash with a further 20 million going to buy shares from existing shareholders.
Judging by his past record Houllier could blow the whole of the 35 million this summer and still Liverpool would finish outside the top four. If the deal goes through a large slice of the money will be used to finance Liverpool's stadium project with a couple of signings to persuade the likes of Owen and Gerrard to give it one more go.
A senior Thai official told Reuters earlier today that Thailand's cabinet is said to have approved a fund-raising plan to buy a 30 percent stake in Liverpool.
"The cabinet agreed with a proposal by the Tourism and Sports Ministry to set up a company and raise funds to buy a stake in Liverpool," Somchainuk Engtrakul, a top official at the Finance Ministry said.
Reports yesterday seemed to but the deal in doubt but Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says his bid for a 30 percent stake in Liverpool has been approved by the Liverpool board.
"In principle, they have no problem with our offer,"
A senior official in Thaksin's office said the Liverpool board called Thai negotiators at 1600 local time (0900 GMT) on Monday to accept the deal.
"We are waiting for final written confirmation," the official said.
The Times reports that a complex arrangement brokered through the Sports Authority of Thailand involving Thai Government funds and a special national lottery is being set up to finance the deal.
Yet the Guardian believes that the whole thing could fall down on Liverpool's reluctance to surrender their Asian commercial and branding rights to the Thais.
'Thaksin Shinawatra hopes to announce the deal on Friday but that could prove overly optimistic. Liverpool see the Asian market as particularly lucrative and, it is understood, would be unwilling to hand over all of their image and commercial rights in the Far East.
"I think we will be able to sign the contract later this week, perhaps on Friday," said Thaksin yesterday, though Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry has yet to announce his intention to return to Bangkok.'