Liverpool chairman David Moores pledged to consider his future last night during a stormy annual general meeting in which the club announced record losses of £21.9 million.
An emotional Moores, chairman since 1991, said he could no longer compete with the financial power of local businessman Steve Morgan, who revealed details of a fourth bid to take over the club.
Moores, whose family have been involved with the club for more than 50 years, said: "I am still considering Mr Morgan's offer and perhaps it is time now. It's been a difficult year. I love the club dearly but it is obvious I cannot compete with Mr Morgan's millions. At the end of the meeting I will have to come to a decision one way or the other.
"It has been unbearable for myself and my family and I have hardly slept. But all of us have tried to work in the best interests of the club."
Morgan intimated he failed to understand why the existing board continued to give short shrift to his takeover bids whilst extensively courting other offers, notably one from Thailand. His latest bid, worth £70 million, is already up against a new offer believed to be from an American "L4" consortium of entertainment executives.
Morgan is Liverpool's third-largest shareholder and said he had spent £300,000 in legal fees alone this year on launching his bids to claim a controlling interest.
Morgan said: "It's been a lot of anguish and I do not like washing our dirty linen in public. I would like to draw a line in the sand and move forward. I have got an offer on the table and you can have the money in the bank by Christmas to give money to Rafael Benitez and get the new stadium on the go. Please accept my offer."
Morgan's comments were all the more timely given finance director Les Wheatley's admission that costs for a proposed new stadium had spiralled to around the £115 million mark. Liverpool's bid to move to a new site on Stanley Park has been stalled by red tape and recently by the re-emergence of the groundsharing issue to which they are largely opposed.
Wheatley blamed the rising cost of the new stadium - which had been marked at £80 million at last year's a.g.m. - predominantly on costs incurred during the continuing delay in securing approval.
The "L4" group is thought to have the backing of the Kraft family, owners of Superbowl champions New England Patriots and the New England Revolution soccer franchise, coached by formerly Liverpool player Steve Nicol.
Mike Jefferies, one of the men behind L4, said: "We are working with Keith Harris of Seymour Pierce. He is conducting discussions with Liverpool through Hawkpoint. I can confirm L4 exists with the purpose being to conduct ongoing discussions with the owners of Liverpool football club.
"There are a number of different constituent elements, both individuals and entities, that we believe have a direct connection with the culture and heritage of the club, as well as the experience, resource and appetite to get the club back to where we believe it deserves to be."
Moores currently has a 51 per cent control of the club.
Meanwhile, Tottenham's head coach Martin Jol said yesterday he had forgiven Frederic Kanoute for the "unforgivable" handball which probably cost Spurs a place in the League Cup semi-final but said he was "even more surprised" by the striker's behaviour when he saw a replay on television.
Kanoute's brainstorm allowed Liverpool a late penalty equaliser on Wednesday and they went on to win in a shoot-out. Jol said his team had to cut out such needless mistakes and noted it was not Kanoute's first aberration of the season because he failed to clear a corner at Aston Villa which led to Nol Solano's winner.
Graeme Souness's search for new defenders took him to the Netherlands last night to watch Rangers in their UEFA Cup tie with AZ Alkmaar. Newcastle's manager was again checkingon Jean-Alain Boumsoung.
The availability of the centre-half, whom Souness saw in action for France last month, is in question. Boumsong joined Rangers on a Bosman-free during the summer and Newcastle are investigating regulations because more than one move a season may be against UEFA guidelines.
England will prepare for the final stages of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with a friendly away to Denmark next August.