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RBS ready to step in to force swift Liverpool sale - Telegraph RBS ready to step in to force swift Liverpool sale Royal Bank of Scotland may take direct control of attempts to find a buyer for Liverpool. It comes amid growing unease at the failure to remove American Tom Hicks and George Gillett ahead of next month's refinancing deadline. Officially the bank supports the sales process being handled by Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton and investment bank Barclays Capital, but with just 25 days until the expiry of RBS's financing deal with the Americans, the issue is becoming acute for RBS. Among the narrowing options being considered by executives, including chief executive Stephen Hester, is for RBS to take greater control of the process from BarCap. This would simplify any deal-making process and could allow the bank to try to force Hicks and Gillett to accept a lower price for the club than the �500 million-plus valuation that looks increasingly unrealistic. The terms of RBS's �237 million loan to the American owners expires on Oct 6, and if no buyer is realistically close to sealing a deal then the bank will have to decide whether to call in the debt, effectively forcing Hicks and Gillett out, or offer a further extension. Neither option is straightforward, but The Daily Telegraph understands that RBS will extend the financing deal for a short period only if Broughton indicates there is a realistic chance of a deal being closed quickly after Oct 6. The bank is extremely reluctant to step in and take direct control of the club however, hence the desire to press hard for a deal in the 25 days before the financing deadline. Any deal remains reliant on a suitable bidder being interested in the terms on offer however, and Broughton and BarCap have been frustrated in their search for a credible buyer by the American's price expectations and the debt burden. They began the search in April after Hicks and Gillett agreed to sell the club and to the appointment of Broughton, chairman of British Airways. At that time the owners' loans were shifted from RBS's corporate lending arm to their "bad bank", the Global Restructuring Group established in the wake of the global financial crisis to handle its over-leveraged and problem clients. BarCap are understood to have made a slow start in the search for new owners. Despite a very public approach, Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang pulled out without making a formal bid amid doubts over the source of his funding, and India's Sahara Group said it was not interested in a deal "at the moment". The US investment house the Rhone Group made a �100 million offer for a 40 per cent stake earlier this year Unless RBS can identify a new buyers they may be forced to return to the existing field offering the club at a reduced price. To do that they will have to call time on Hicks and Gillett, a step they have so far declined to take.