Liverpool's Ian Ayre admits the club's long-term stadium plans are still unclear and they are keeping all options open
Liverpool executive promises to make right decision on stadium
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has admitted the club's long-term stadium plans are still unclear and that they are keeping all options open.
Plans to build a new stadium have been under review for some time which has caused some angst among Reds fans who want them to have a new stadium.
Liverpool, however, are still exploring the idea of revamping Anfield and Ayre told
Sky Sports News HD that finances will ultimately dictate which route they take.
"We still don't know if we are staying or if we are going," he said. "We have said for some time that we are trying to plough two parallel courses and in terms of a new stadium, a new stadium costs a lot of money.
"I think what is lost on some people is that if you move from a 46,000 seater Anfield, to a 60,000 plus stadium, you don't get [the money from] 60,000 seats - you get the difference between them.
Revenue
"That's the new money that has to pay for a new stadium, because you are already generating revenue from Anfield, so it doesn't count.
"So it's trying to find the right economic model and while that sounds quite boring to all our fans it's very important."
If the Reds do decide to build a new stadium Ayre has revealed they would be trying to glean the highest price from any potential buyer for the naming rights to the stadium.
Again this is a process he stressed would take time, and one that he has urged the Kop fans to have patience with.
"We are moving it along, it's a sales process - we are selling the naming rights to the stadium," he added.
Decision
"What you don't want to do is create a situation where you are trying to move that quickly that you lose on the price.
"Then on Anfield there are similar time issues, for those of you that have ever been to Anfield, it's in the middle of a lot of housing, so extending and growing isn't as simple as just knocking people's houses down as an example.
"We have to consult with people and look at our options, again that just takes time but our fans can take some comfort in the fact that it's not lost on us that we need that uplift in revenue, in seats, in more fans being at the game, just as they do.
"We are going to dawdle on it but we are going to make the right decision and as I said at the outset it's about making the right decision for Liverpool Football Club, its fans and its future."
