Investors in Dubai are weighing up purchasing Liverpool for $5billion (£4.3bn) after Fenway Sports Group (FSG) put the club up for sale, according to reports in the Middle East.
FSG are willing to offload the Reds after 12 years of ownership and released a statement on Monday confirming it "would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club". Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are assisting with the process as offers are invited.
Liverpool were valued at over £3.5bn by Forbes in May this year, nearly 12 times the amount FSG purchased the club for in 2010. The American sports investment company has set a £4billion asking price to part ways with the club, so it will take a hugely-rich individual, consortium or state to take over the Reds.
The prospect of Middle Eastern investors buying the Anfield side appears one of the more likely options due to the wealth of the Gulf states. In an eye-catching update on Tuesday, Arabian Business reported that Dubai International Capital (DIC) 'could be eyeing' purchasing Liverpool.
It would not be the first time DIC has attempted to take over on Merseyside, as it failed with a $360million (£312m) bid back in 2007. Sameer Al Ansari, the founding chairman of Dubai's sovereign wealth fund, opened up about the offer during an interview with Arabian Business in 2014 and claimed there was a hold-up due to him being a Liverpool fan.
"We would have been the first to do it [a takeover] out of this region," Al Ansari said. "As soon as they [Liverpool] won the Champions League in 2005, we got serious about due diligence in 2006 and almost signed in January 2007.
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"What delayed us is because everyone knew Sameer was a lifelong fan of Liverpool, including His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. So we did three times the amount of due diligence, as I had to prove the business sense and there were very few clubs, frankly, where you can make a business sense."
Instead, Liverpool were bought by Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., who ran up up huge debts prior to FSG taking over the club in 2010. DIC has a chance to go one better than 15 years ago after FSG's decision to sell the club and it could become one of a number of Middle Eastern owners in European football.
Newcastle were bought by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund last year and Manchester City have been owned by Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group since 2008. French giants Paris Saint-Germain were purchased by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.
