"Rafa's a fresh thinker. He's not afraid to try things new and I think that's probably good in the UK. He's a smart guy, a great tactician. I like what we hear about his plans. He's not going anywhere. He's staying in Liverpool. He's the man we want," said Hicks.
"We had a chat about budgets, his philosophy, specifics, revising how we can improve the development process, all those things.
"It was a five-hour meeting and an introduction into his way of thinking and all the programmes we can improve upon. He's a very thoughtful, smart guy.
"I think although these sports are all different, in so many ways they have some similarities. One is if you want to sustain excellence over a long period of time you have to develop good young players who you can mix in with the transfer of star players.
"But you've got to have the foundation of your own young players. That's true with the [Texas] Rangers, the [Dallas] Stars, the [Montreal] Canadiens and it's true with Liverpool."