Gerrard excited by proposed takeover

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has thrown his full support behind the American takeover bid of George Gillett and Tom Hicks that is on the brink of acceptance by the club.

And Gerrard believes the potential £450million investment by the US sports moguls signals "exciting times" for the Anfield club.

Gerrard, speaking on England duty at a media conference broadcast by Sky Sports News, said: "I'm really excited. I'm told it's really close and hopefully sometime this week it will be sorted."

He added: "The takeover is in good hands with our chairman David Moores and Rick Parry (chief executive) and I'm full of confidence they will make the right decision and get it signed and sealed.

"These are exciting times for the club."

Gillett and Hicks have been involved in further talks with the Liverpool board, and are expected to announce acceptance of the bid in the next 24 hours with the likelihood that the new owners will be unveiled on Tuesday.

There will then have to be a 28-day period before the deal can be finalised, giving time for shareholders to decide whether they will also accept an offer of £6,000-a-share that will meet with Moores' approval.

Moores needs to persuade 90% of shareholders to also take the offer to allow Gillett and Hicks to make a compulsory purchase of all the shares.