Soccer Extreme : John Henry has outlined out his vision for Liverpool following his takeover of the club, insisting "we're here to win".A £300million buyout by New England Sports Ventures was finally completed this afternoon after nine days of high drama, during which former owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks attempted to maintain their loosening grip on the club after three-and-a-half tumultuous years.
Henry, who also co-owns the Boston Red Sox, emerged victorious from the headquarters of Slaughter and May solicitors in London earlier with the Anfield board's independent directors and reassured fans that he will do 'whatever is necessary' to restor the club to past glories.
He said: "I am proud and humble. We've got a lot of work to do and I can't tell you how happy I am that we have finally, finally got to this point.
"We're not going to have a lot to say, our actions will hopefully speak for us. We are going to do a lot of listening and we have a lot to learn. Our actions will hopefully speak for us.
"It's too early to say what we're going to do but we're here to win, we have a tradition of winning - we [the Boston Red Sox] are the second-highest spending club in Major League Baseball and we're here to win, we will do whatever is necessary."
After Gillett and Hicks failed to deliver on thier promise of building a new stadium in Stanley Park it has been suggested that NESV may opt to redevelop the club's current Anfield home, but Henry insisted that it was "too early" to comment on the situation.
And when probed whether he would be in attendance at Goodison Park on Sunday, the American revealed that he will appear before the Anfield faithful next weekend when Blackburn Rovers travel to Merseyside.
"I think it's better for our first experience with the supporters to be at home," he added.
The news of NESV's takeover has been greeted with cautious optimism by fans and James McKenna, a spokesman for Spirit of Shankly - the Liverpool Supporters' Union, is hopeful that the dark days of Gillett and Hicks' parsimonious reign will not be repeated.
He said: “For three years supporters have campaigned to rid our club of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. We wanted them gone for their broken promises, lies and contempt."Today we have achieved our goal, of getting rid of the people holding our club back, on and off the pitch.
“Today is also about the future of this club - the supporters, players, manager, board and owners, all pulling in the same direction to make our club great again. We hope the owners follow up with their promises to listen.
"Supporters have many concerns, and questions and hopefully these will be answered. We hope for positive engagement to allow us to all work together for the benefit of the club we love.”
Liverpool were further buoyed by Gillett and Hicks' decision to withdraw their lawsuit for £1billion in damages, filed earlier this week in conjunction with a temporary restraining order blocking the sale of the club to NESV. (clickliverpool)