Bangkok, May 24: Thailand will offer Liverpool stars Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard a substantial shareholding in the team if it succeeds in its bid to buy a 30 per cent stake, according to a news report. The private business radio today quoted Thailand's chief negotiator Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn as saying that striker Owen and midfielder Gerrard would be given a combined 11 per cent control of a Thai company that would buy the Liverpool stake. The state-run sports authority of Thailand would hold 49 per cent of the company and the rest would be offered to the public, business radio's owner and commentator Danai Ekmahasawadhi said.
"We do not know whether Owen and Gerrard will have to buy the share from their pockets or be given it for free," Danai said on a news programme.
The report could not be independently verified.Pongsak, who is the country's deputy commerce minister, is currently in England for the final negotiations with the Liverpool board. The board is expected to decide this week whether to accept the USD 115 million offer by the Thai government, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters. "I expect that we will reach a final decision in the next few days," said Thaksin, who has been the prime mover behind the unusual plan to buy a part of the English premier league club. Bureau Report