A Kuwaiti consortium has pulled out of takeover talks with Liverpool.

The News of the World says the Al-Kharafi family is reported to be worth as much as £11bn, but they called off talks over the price and due to Tom Hicks' demands.

Hicks valued the club at £600m, as much as £200m more than the Kuwaitis were prepared to pay. The new owners would also have had to stump up £400m for a new ground. The Texan also wanted to retain at least a 25 per cent share in the club.

That was a prospect rejected not only by the Kuwaitis, who insisted on full control at Anfield, but also by Kop co-owner George Gillett Jr.

Gillett Jr, who is in talks with FIVE rival bidders, made it clear he would not sell the club unless Hicks was run out of town too.

A source close to the Kuwaiti group said: "It is absolutely definite, there will be no bid from the Kharifi camp. Any interest is now over."