Fresh doubts have been raised over the ability of Tom Hicks, Liverpool's controversial co-owner, to fund the club's proposed new stadium in Stanley Park.

The latest setback comes after Hicks said he would be delaying the building of another new stadium in Texas that was scheduled to open in March 2010. Hicks, who also owns the Texas Rangers baseball, admitted he had been unable to secure financing for the £500 million 'Glorypark', a mixed-use development in Arlington. The American, who also owns the Dallas Stars ice hockey team, made the announcement just a week after delaying a hotel project in which he is also involved.

"We are in the most difficult credit crunch I have seen the last 20 years," Hicks told the Dallas Morning News.

That revelation will further fuel hopes that Dubai International Capital (DIC), the investment arm of the Dubai government, could buyout the Americans and complete a takeover of the Anfield club. DIC have long believed Hicks, and his estranged co-owner George Gillett, would find it virtually impossible to raise further loans to facilitate the move from Anfield.

Hicks must find funding over the next few months to build the club's new £350m stadium, but if his Hicks Holdings group have been unable to find the cash in the current market for their Arlington plans, critics will wonder how the money for the move will be raised.

Last week, the club gained their third planning permission for the revised Stanley Park scheme. Hicks said at the weekend: "Site work will start in September and actual construction in late October/early November, with completion in time for the season starting in August 2011."

Some money, around £60m, was set aside from the January re-financing of Hicks and Gillett's loans to buy Liverpool, to allow the stadium work to start. But it is believed Hicks has been unsuccessful in raising further loans from the London and US financial markets in recent weeks.

DIC believe the financial pressures on Hicks will eventually lead to his return to the negotiating table after he pulled the plug on a planned buyout earlier in the year. The impasse with Gillett is no nearer a solution but Gillett, having made it clear he will not sell his 50 per cent stake in the club to his partner, flew to London last week for informal talks with DIC. However, few observers now expect the ownership of the club to be resolved this summer, with the saga likely to drag on into the autumn.