• Premier League

Liverpool don't need to sell, insists Ayre

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has made it clear there is no pressure to sell their star players despite an increase in the club's debts to £87.2 million.

The latest Anfield accounts, released on Monday, showed a rise in debt of £21.8 million during the ten-month period from August 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012.

Ayre highlighted the cost of rebuilding a squad without any European football under Kenny Dalglish last season as a major factor in that increase.

However, he insisted that there is no need to sell names such as Luis Suarez to balance the books, and that the final say in any transfers will lie with manager Brendan Rodgers.

"We won't be selling anyone because of the financial position," Ayre told the Liverpool Echo. "If we're selling anyone it'll be because they are deemed by the manager to be surplus to his requirements and obviously if that happens we will be replacing them and bringing new players in as we always do."

Ayre is adamant that Liverpool are in good shape to cope with UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which will limit clubs to losing no more than £39 million over a three-year cycle.

The Premier League agreed to adopt its own rules at a meeting in February, with its clubs set to be limited to losing £105 million over three years. Liverpool made a pre-tax loss of £40.5 million during 2011-12.

Ayre said: "There's no panic on our part, far from it. We feel we are making progress. Our aspiration for the next couple of years, as the rules will dictate, is to break even and then to make a profit beyond that.

"The recent rules that we've adopted at the Premier League will expect people to break even and limit their spending and player wages. We've been a big advocate in pushing for that so we're certainly not going to fall foul of it."

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