Roy Hodgson is likely to have a new boss soon.
Liverpool FC fans are on the edge of their seats (喻) 對某事緊張。At the end of last week the Hong Kong businessman Kenny Huang confirmed that his investment company QSL Sports had put in a bid 投標、出價 for the debt-ridden 負債累累的 club.
The Reds owe around ￡237m (2.6 billion yuan) to their main creditor 債權人 the Royal Bank of Scotland. The club's current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks put it on the market in April.
It is thought that the total value of the deal put together by Huang and his backers 贊助者 is ￡450m (4.9 billion yuan). This includes around ￡300m (3.2 billion yuan) to pay off Liverpool's debts and ￡150m (1.6 billion yuan) to start paying for the construction of a new stadium and to bring in new players.
If such a deal goes through Hicks and Gillet will have made no profit over the period of their ownership.
I think the danger would be in a late takeover... We wouldn't have had a chance to research the players in this transfer window.
Roy Hodgson, Liverpool Football Club manager
That fact will please many disgruntled 不滿的 Anfield fans but they will be less gratified 高興的 by a potentially paltry 微不足道的 amount of money left over for transfers. However, Anfield's new manager Roy Hodgson has made it clear that he is more concerned about the timing of any takeover 接管 than he is about the amount.
For this reason a decision is expected by the end of this week. Huang's deal is not the only one on the table; Hicks and Gillet are thought to have at least three foreign bidders, one of whom is the Syrian Canadian businessman Yahya Kirdi.
But there is one set of people who are particularly keen to see an agreement with Huang: Liverpool's Chinese community.
Liverpool has Europe's oldest Chinese community. It dates back to 追溯到 the nineteenth century, when some Chinese sailors married Irishwomen and settled in the north-west.
Now the city has the largest Chinese gate outside mainland China, shipped from Liverpool's twin city 友好關系城市，Shanghai.
The Americans have just been in to turn a fast buck. The Chinese always look at the big picture, long-term investment.
Colin Ling, business consultant and Liverpool FC fan
British-Chinese Liverpool fans like Colin Ling think a new Chinese owner will bring long-term benefits to the club.
When Mr Ling accuses Gillet and Hicks of trying to turn "a fast buck" he means that they were just interested in making money out of the club, not seeing it grow.
When he says that the Chinese "look at the big picture" he means that they think strategically 戰略性地。
But will Kenny Huang get the chance to prove Mr Ling right? We should find out by the end of this week.
? MMIX