"This is the last piece of the jigsaw as far as the city council is concerned, and it leaves the door open now for the football club to move forward with their stadium proposals," said Liverpool City Council leader Warren Bradley. "The council have signed over the land on a lease to the club, and a joint venture agreement with them.
"We would then expect the club to go on site probably in January to start building the new stadium with the expectation that by September 2009 we will see them in a new stadium which is good news for Liverpool and good news for the Anfield community and good news for the city.
"Liverpool Football Club is one of the best known and most successful in the world yet it stands in one of the poorest areas, not only in the city, but in the country.
"We can now provide a new home for the football club fitting for their status as one of the world's best, and at the same time use their success to spark a dramatic revival of the Anfield and Breckfield areas.
"For the past five years we have worked with the Anfield-Breckfield Partnership Forum on the strategy to regenerate the area and every consultation with the local community has shown overwhelming support for this scheme.
"This is a golden opportunity for north Liverpool to be transformed."