Liverpool's American owners are stepping up efforts to sell the club by asking Barclays to find a buyer and appoint a new chairman, a source close to the club has revealed.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are set to appoint the British Airways chairman, Martin Broughton, next week as an interim non-executive chairman. Broughton will oversee the sale process, the source told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, because talks are ongoing.

For over two years, Hicks and Gillett have been trying to attract investors to reduce debt resulting from their 2007 takeover of the club, which stands at £237m.

In September 2009 Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Rothschild were appointed to find investors, but Hicks and Gillett have not received an acceptable offer. A £100m offer for 40% of the club by a New York-based private equity firm, Rhone Group, was turned down earlier this month, with Hicks apparently unhappy with the deal.

Hicks has been more keen than Gillett on retaining some control at Anfield, but now both are prepared to sanction an outright sale and they hope a buyer will be found by Barclays Capital, the investment arm of the bank that sponsors the Premier League.

Hicks blocked Gillett's moves to sell his 50% share to Dubai International Capital group in 2008 as the pair disagreed over plans for the club. An outright £500m takeover bid by the DIC group was also rebuffed.

The state of the club's finances has limited the ability of the manager, Rafael Benítez, to operate in the transfer market, with the team slipping out of the top four of the Premier League and failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

News of a possible sale came as Benítez said he would need significant funds to revamp the squad in the summer.

"The cost of a top-class player is about £20m. I think we need three," Benítez said. "We want to keep the spine of the team, but sometimes you have to manage and you have to sell two or three players who aren't playing many games.

"I think we can improve but it depends if we can do the right signings and it is always easier to sign more players with more money. It's not easy for us to compete for players."

The lack of funds at Liverpool has led to the postponement of plans to build a new stadium.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool in 2007 for £174m, taking on £44.8m of liabilities.

Amid the global economic crisis, the pair have been shoring up their financial positions. Gillett sold the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, the Gillett Entertainment Group and the Bell Centre back to the Molson family for $580m (£377m) last year. Hicks is trying to sell the Major League Baseball team Texas Rangers.