Liverpool: Saudi-Qatari consortium 'plotting £3.2 billion bid' to buy club | OneFootball

A joint Saudi-Qatari consortium are reportedly plotting to buy Liverpool Football Club from Fenway Sports Group.

According to an exclusive from The Sporting News, investors from the neighbouring Gulf States have decided to form a partnership to avoid becoming embroiled in a bidding war for the Reds.

An initial “£3.2 billion bid” is set to be submitted to FSG as the investors attempt to convince Principal Owner, John W. Henry, to relinquish control.

Whilst the partnership is said to be made up of private investors, strong links to the Gulf States obviously exist.

As a result, any takeover would likely face intense scrutiny on behalf of the Premier League, especially after the controversy surrounding the recent Newcastle takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

But the report states that the investors are confident of passing any kind of owner examination levelled at them and are keen to push forward with their attempts to buy the club.

The level of shared wealth within the ownership structure is said to be vast putting them in a “commanding position” to complete the Anfield takeover.

Should any such deal go through at the estimated valuation, it would be the most expensive acquisition of any Premier League club in history.

Where do FSG stand on selling the club?

Liverpool’s current owners have yet to publicly confirm that a sale of the club is what they’re truly after.

Instead, they have asserted that they are simply looking to attract new investment whilst still maintaining a controlling stake in the Reds.

But whilst that may still be an option, the report states that “sources familiar with situation insist that a full sale remains the desired outcome”.

After buying Liverpool for a mere £300 million in 2010, it’s likely the American-based company could make an enormous profit of roughly 10x their initial purchase price.

And since putting out the feelers regarding ‘new investment opportunities’, it seems as though they’ve peaked the attention of several interested parties.

The Saudi-Qatari consortium is said to face stiff competition from a group of German investors, who are apparently “further along in the process of tabling a bid” to FSG.

Whereas an unnamed American consortium have also been in touch about potentially entering into negotiations.

It remains to be seen how Liverpool fans would feel about a potential takeover from investors based in the Gulf States.

Kopites are a proud bunch and would want assurances that the club would be run correctly.

But should a deal go through, the days of not being able to compete financially with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and now Newcastle would surely be over.