Liverpool Sale May Take Two Years, Co-Owner Hicks Says: Soccer Roundup

The following is a roundup of soccer stories from U.K. newspapers, with clickable links to the Web.

Liverpool Sale

Tom Hicks, who owns Liverpool with George Gillett, says it may take two years to sell the club, according to an interview in the Sports Business Journal.

The Texan said they’d planned to sell as much as 50 percent of their holding on the stock market to pay down the debt at the club, but abandoned the plan in March 2008 when markets began to decline, the magazine said.

Bye to Ballack

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is set to join Schalke back in Germany, the Daily Star said.

Schalke boss Felix Magath said the player will be willing to accept lower wages to return to his home country, the newspaper added.

Chelsea Option

Chelsea has been offered Real Madrid’s Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain for 34 million pounds ($51 million) if the London club can’t sign Liverpool’s Fernando Torres, the Daily Telegraph said.

The Blues have been in touch with Torres’s agents in Spain, and Higuain, 22, may be another option for coach Carlo Ancelotti, the newspaper said.

Arsenal Defender

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger may bid 10 million pounds for Senegalese center-back Pape Malickou Diakhate, who’s now on loan at St. Etienne from Dynamo Kyiv, the Daily Mirror said.

The defender is worth about 10 million pounds, and the coach has been tracking the national team vice captain for two years, the newspaper said.

Bayern Park

Bayern Munich is targeting Manchester United midfielder Ji- Sung Park, the Daily Mail said.

The South Korean is valued at about 7 million pounds, and the German club may try to take advantage of United’s rebuilding plans, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net