Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks was interviewed on Sky Sports News on Wednesday afternoon and revealed some details on the new stadium and hinted there will be another signing to follow after the arrivals of Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel are finalised.
Hicks told how it had been an eventful and succesful first summer in charge of the club and how he and George Gillett had helped carry out Rafa Benitez’s plan by signing the “core players” to long term contracts, then improving the squad to add depth and quality for the “grueling 10 month season”.
When asked should we expect any more after Benayoun and Babel are confirmed he replied “I wouldn’t rule out one more” with a little laugh when asked in which position that would be! “I know the team’s going to be a better team,” he explained. “Part of the plan that Rafa explained to George and me was to have more depth, it’s a long season – particularly in the Premiership.”
Hicks then told how the club had finalised plans for the new stadium and they will be presented to the city council on July 25th, “I think they will become public at that point,” he said. “People will be very excited when they see them.”
When asked if the new stadium will be bigger than first planned (61,000) he replied “It has to initially be the same size as has been approved but we are building the stadium in a way that it can be expanded, so as we get approval we add to the seating. Eventually we plan to have it quite a bit larger than we first planned.”
When prompted for a figure he said “mid to high seventies potentially”.
He told how he believes HKS are the best architects in the world and that the design is very unique and will be recognisable anywhere in the world, very contempary but some classic English tradition to it.
He also added that they have been working to hire a commercial director “to build up all our commercial activites” and that will be announced in the next week or so.
