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The Liverpool power struggle threatens to escalate over the coming days, with the club’s American owners due on Merseyside to thrash out their differences with Rafael Benítez, Rick Parry and each other. There are also growing concerns that turmoil in the boardroom is being felt by the players, with Daniel Agger, the Denmark defender, expressing unhappiness yesterday at the impasse over his contract negotiations.

Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has a contract dispute of his own to discuss with Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, having rejected their previous offer while requesting more control over transfer policy, but he is equally determined to resolve the growing uncertainty over a number of players whose contracts expire at the end of next season. These include Álvaro Arbeloa, Dirk Kuyt and Emiliano Insua, the Argentina Under-20 full back, but by far the most pressing case is that of Agger, who is attracting interest from AC Milan and Real Madrid.

Agger has been told by Benítez that he is central to Liverpool’s long-term plans, but, to the player’s frustration, negotiations over a new contract have yet to progress beyond an initial meeting in November. The precise reason for the delay is not clear, but, with his suitors in Italy and Spain aware that his valuation will fall and that his bargaining position will strengthen now that he has entered the final 18 months of his present deal, it is Liverpool who stand to lose most if the situation is not resolved quickly.

Agger delay adds to Anfield confusion

Growing concerns that turmoil in Liverpool boardroom is being felt by the players, with American owners due on Merseyside

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BACKGROUND

• Anfield feuds add spice to derby

• Kuwaitis line up £500m bid for Liverpool

• Gerrard denies assault over nightclub brawl

• Lawrenson says Gerrard expects Keane move

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• Rafael Benitez's team lack belief in title race

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Speaking to a Danish newspaper, Agger said: “I haven’t heard anything from the club since the beginning of November. We have only had one meeting with Liverpool. At that meeting, I was told that the club would come back to me quickly, but that hasn’t happened. Now there have been 12 weeks since we spoke.”

He added: “I don’t have a clue if they want to extend this contract. It is an annoying situation and in principle it is a little bit frustrating not to get any messages, especially when it has almost been three months and they were the ones who told me they wanted to come back quickly.”

Liverpool are in a strong second position in the Barclays Premier League table before the short trip to Wigan Athletic tomorrow evening, but the Agger situation reflects a growing sense of atrophy at boardroom level. The dysfunctional relationship between Hicks and Gillett, who now operate as separate factions rather than as a partnership, is matched by that between Benítez and Parry, the chief executive.

Parry has been blamed by Benítez for certain problems, but he in turn has had his power-base eroded by a falling-out with Hicks, who demanded his resignation last April. Having sided with Gillett, Parry has frequently found himself bypassed by Hicks, who prefers to deal with Ian Ayre, the commercial director, and Philip Nash, the finance director.

The situation appears unsustainable and, while Gillett is desperate to sell his 50 per cent stake, having accepted that he has neither the resources nor the will to deliver his grand vision for the club, the long-term outlook remains unclear. The Al-Kharafi family, from Kuwait, have backed away from a possible takeover since reports of their interest filtered out of the Hicks camp last week. Having mysteriously pulled out of a planned purchase of the club last July, after an agreement was reached on a price, it appears unlikely that they will be back for a third time.

Hicks would listen to any serious offer for his stake, with no guarantee that Royal Bank of Scotland will offer the owners an extension to their £350 million loan, which expires in July, but for now he appears determined to find an investor who will help him to buy out Gillett.

Speaking over the weekend at a banquet held by the Texas Rangers, the baseball franchise that he owns, Hicks said that he was “not selling” and that, on the contrary, he was “bringing in a new partner to buy out my current partner”. He did, however, say something remarkably similar last April, to no avail.

Regardless of whether he is able to survive at Anfield in the long term, Hicks has an important role to play once he arrives. He has already stated his intention to address Benítez’s concerns over the contract and to “fix” the problems that exist elsewhere. Short of disappearing, the Texan would appear an unlikely candidate to solve Liverpool’s problems, given that he and Gillett created many of them, but, for Benítez, Agger, Parry and the rest, there must be the hope that the coming days will bring answers because the situation as it stands is untenable.