Rafael BenÍtez will not survive the power struggle at Liverpool and is in danger of being dismissed as manager sooner rather than later, having alienated the club’s American owners during a week of intense political turmoil. In a joint statement last night, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks denied rumours that BenÍtez had already left the club, but they made little attempt to disguise the acrimony that appears to have left his position untenable in the long term.

BenÍtez has no intention of resigning, but there is a realisation inside Anfield that his regime has reached the point of no return after a series of clashes with Gillett and Hicks, who completed a £415 million takeover in February, over the club’s transfer policy.

In the best-case scenario, he may yet see out the remainder of the season before being sacked or leaving by mutual consent, but the word from within the club is that the American tycoons have lost all trust in him after recent challenges to their authority and that, despite his popularity with supporters, his dismissal is only a matter of time. Even in the unlikelihood that he apologises, it may only postpone the inevitable.

It is an astonishing turn of events that seemed unimaginable barely a week ago, when BenÍtez rejected an informal approach from Bayern Munich. At that point, he talked of his desire to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, by staying in charge for 21 years, but his reign at Liverpool has since been unravelled by fallouts with Gillett and Hicks. Even close associates believe that he has made mistakes by picking fights with the pair and, in particular, by mocking their suggestion that he “focus on training and coaching” rather than try to dictate transfer policy.

It is a situation that mirrors the departure of José Mourinho, BenÍtez’s arch rival, from Chelsea in September, with the Portuguese having been accused of sealing his fate at Stamford Bridge by challenging the authority of Roman Abramovich, the owner.

Most recently, BenÍtez has taken umbrage at the insistence that all transfer negotiations be left to Rick Parry, the chief executive, and that no such talks should even take place until after their visit to Merseyside in mid-December. BenÍtez – eager to sign Ezequiel Marcelo Garay, the Racing Santander defender, and to tie up a permanent £17 million deal for Javier Mascherano – expressed disgust at the proposal and has compounded matters by suggesting that the owners do not understand how the transfer market works in European football.

After rumours swept Liverpool yesterday that BenÍtez had already left the club, Gillett and Hicks issued a statement claiming that there was “nothing new to say”, but they made no attempt to deny the tensions that exist or to give the manager any kind of public support. They said that transfer policy will be determined in mid-December, but there is a growing concern that BenÍtez may be gone before then. If not, that meeting has the makings of a showdown.