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All the best pictures as Liverpool look to book their place in the group stages

• Yahya Kirdi claims to be in advanced talks to buy club
• Investors from Middle East and Canada ‘promise to clear debt’

A surprise Syrian bidder claims to have re-entered the race to buy Liverpool FC.

Yahya Kirdi, a businessman and former Syrian international footballer, says his group are in “advanced negotiations” with the owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Kirdi claimed in a statement that he had agreed a price and that a formal agreement is being drawn up. His statement comes just three days after the Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang made his group’s bid for the club public.

Some suspect that Kirdi’s claim could be an attempt to drive up any price paid by Huang, who has offered under £300m for the club, around half of what the owners are seeking.

Kirdi’s group of investors, from the Middle East and Canada, have promised to clear Liverpool’s debt and provide the investment required to build the new Anfield in Stanley Park.

Kirdi made similar claims earlier this year and had previously been dismissed as a serious bidder by the club.

A statement released overnight said: “Yahya Kirdi, who represents a select group of investors from the Middle East and Canada, confirmed today that his group is in advanced negotiations with Thomas Hicks and George Gillett, co-owners of Liverpool football club, to purchase 100% of the club.

“Agreement has been reached on all major terms including the purchase price, repayment of the existing bank debt … and financing of a new stadium in Liverpool’s Stanley Park. A formal purchase agreement between the parties is in the final stage of negotiation.”

Kirdi said: “Liverpool is a massive football club with passionate and proud fans in Merseyside and in every part of the world. With additional money to improve the squad and financing in place to build the new stadium, LFC will be on a solid foundation to compete in the Premiership [sic] and in Europe for years to come.”

The club’s chairman, Martin Broughton, is hopeful of completing a sale this month, and the owners have always claimed that there is more than one potential buyer.

LiverpoolSport politicsPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk

Television campaign featuring the former footballer and his ex-pop star wife have lifted the tour operator’s bookings in the crucial January booking period

Television advertising featuring ex-Liverpool and Tottenham footballer Jamie Redknapp and his wife Louise, the former pop star, frolicking at a sun-drenched resort was credited with helping generate robust summer bookings for holiday firm Thomas Cook.

The tour operator told the City that the ads had boosted demand during the peak sales spell in late January.

Chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said: “In recent weeks, bookings for the summer 2010 season have improved significantly, marking a positive response to our current marketing campaigns and highlighting the resilience of the summer holiday.”

The surge in bookings is welcome news for the company after poor weather in early January, particularly in the UK, led to a slow start to the traditionally busy trading period. Bookings from British holiday-makers jumped 15% in the last four weeks, when compared with the same period in 2009.

The Redknapp-credited sales fillip may also bolster the celebrity couple’s marketability after it emerged last month that Icon, the glossy magazine for the super-rich which they founded, was in financial difficulty. The loss-making magazine carried features on luxury lifestyles, focusing on topics such as premium property, travel and fine wines. It was reported last month that subscribers had not received the latest edition and that the business was the subject of several court claims brought by creditors. The Redknapps are minority shareholders, and said to be no longer involved with running the magazine.

Thomas Cook and rival tour group Tui Travel — both the product of mega-mergers in 2007 — have both led industry moves to slash the number of package holidays on sale each year. Their actions, combined with the collapse of smaller operators such as XL Leisure and Globespan, have led to a steep reduction in the number of summer holidays on offer to UK consumers in recent years.

This has allowed Thomas Cook and Tui to rapidly rebuild profitability, reducing exposure to low-margin package deals to destinations such as the Spanish Costas, and focusing on more lucrative, higher-priced business where competition from low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet is less fierce.

Thomas Cook is cutting the number of summer holidays it is selling to UK customers this year by 3%, taking capacity to 17% less than 2007 levels. In Continental Europe the group raised has raised its summer holiday capacity by 8%.

The update on summer booking trends came as Thomas Cook reported first quarter operating loss of £41m, compared with a loss of £27m last year. The company said that operating cash outflow was “broadly in line with last year” despite capacity reductions.

Thomas CookTui TravelTravel & leisureAdvertisingLiverpoolTottenham HotspurSimon Bowersguardian.co.uk