THE SALE OF Liverpool could be completed by the end of the week, says chairman Martin Broughton.

A deal was confirmed this morning to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures [NESV], the owners of MLB side the Boston Red Sox.

Broughton says that, despite the delay caused by the legal challenge by owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the sale should go through within the week.

“It’s likely to take about a week. I would hope we will get the judgement by the end of next week.”

Gillett and Hicks stand to lose £144 million from the £300 million sale, report The Guardian. Broughton has said he is disappointed with the conduct of Hicks and Gillett,

“I think it is a great pity that at the end of an exhaustive process that has been seeking a competitive bid, that they are not going to take the last opportunity to be the ‘good guys’ and pass over Liverpool to the right owners. That is what they promised to do, what they said all along they would do.”

A 15 October deadline has been set by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for the refinancing of Liverpool’s debt. Even if the club’s parent company Kop Holdings goes into administration before the sale can be completed, the Premier League today reassured Liverpool that no points deduction will be imposed on them.

Speaking on the club website, Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher has backed the deal.

“Everyone knows it’ll be a good thing for the club. Hopefully it will be sorted sooner rather than later and we can start looking forward on the pitch and start improving results, which is what we need to do.”