Gerrard: future is bright for Liverpool

Gerrard: future is bright for Liverpool
By Times Online and Agencies
Times Online December 14, 2006

Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, believes the future is bright for the club, having spoken to one of the men spearheading an anticipated £450million takeover.

Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of Dubai's billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammed, is set to make a formal offer for the Anfield side in the coming weeks.

The move would help assure Liverpool's long-held ambition of building a new 60,000-seat stadium, and there has been much keen anticipation among fans about the prospects of the Reds rivalling Chelsea in the transfer market.

After meeting DIC chief executive Sameer al-Ansari, who is likely to become the club's new chairman, following Saturday's 4-0 win over Fulham, Gerrard said the Reds' fans can look forward with optimism.

"I think the future is bright," he said. "I've been fortunate enough to meet with the people who are going to be taking over the club.

"I'm very excited. They assured me and the rest of the players that the club is going to be in safe hands and that the future is going to be really bright.

"The fans have been reading the same things as I've been reading and so they have got every right to be excited.

"Having met them, I'm even more excited now because I've heard their thoughts face to face."

Although Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has deeper pockets that even Chelsea's billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, Rick Parry, the Liverpool chief executive, insisted the club is focused on a long-term strategy.

"We are focused on success but we want a club that will not be ludicrously profligate," Parry said. It is not just about throwing money at a challenge, that is not a sound long-term strategy.

"It is definitely not about being a rich man's plaything. It is about taking Liverpool FC to the next level and securing the future of the club for the next hundred years."

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