Tom Hicks has confessed he felt like Donald Trump after his infamous secret meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann.
Former Liverpool co-owner Hicks held talks with Germany legend Klinsmann in January 2008 as they searched for a potential Rafa Benitez successor - despite the Spaniard still remaining at Anfield.
Klinsmann quickly turned down the advance and became Bayern Munich manager, with Benitez remaining in charge until 2010 when Roy Hodgson took the Reds hotseat.
At the time Hicks insisted Klinsmann was merely insurance, saying: "We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy to have him [Klinsmann] become manager if Rafael left for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the press.
"Or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason."
Now, over a decade on, Hicks has revealed the complete truth behind the chats and how leaks from all over the place left his relationship with fans in tatters.
"I feel like Trump in Washington with all the leaks," Hicks told Sky Sports.
"We were worried that we were going to lose Rafa, we had intelligence that he was going to move to Real Madrid and we had a chance to talk to Jurgen as a potential candidate so we had a meeting with the guy.
"Next thing I know it's leaked out to the press and the fans leapt to the defence of poor Rafa - also they hated the Americans and all of a sudden the adulation I felt in Athens was totally replaced by the angry feelings everybody had a few months later.
"I think the way our whole relationship with Rafa ended could've been avoided or done very differently, I got along with Rafa just fine, I think it was really between Christian Purslow and Rafa in the end, they ended up getting crossed wires."
Hicks spent three and a half years at Liverpool with George Gillett but despite reaching the Champions League final and posting a second place finish in the Premier League, the Americans ended their tenure in legal chaos.
