Liverpool ‘rejected £2billion takeover bid from cousin of Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour’

The cousin of mega-rich Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour tried to buy Liverpool in an audacious £2billion bid, according to reports.

Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan is part of the ruling Abu Dhabi family and was said to have met Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group over a period of months in late 2017.

He was then said to have proposed a huge £2billion takeover of the club, according to the Daily Mail.

That deal would have made it the most expensive takeover in the history of football.

The report goes on to say he was ready with a £2billion valuation – taking on a minority Chinese investor and more money from a hedge fund.

This valuation was placed on the club before the reached the Champions League final.

Liverpool are adamant that the club is not for sale, although they ARE looking for a similar investment deal to the one Manchester City made with Chinese consortium CMC.

That investment was for £265million and bought CMC a 13 per cent stake in City.

However it seems the deal broke down when a £25m down payment on the proposal was not paid last December – with Liverpool way of a lack of funds.

The club released a statement and insisted the deal broke down before Sheik Khaled and FSG’s majority shareholders John W Henry or Michael Gordon met.

It read: “FSG have been clear and consistent: the club is not for sale.

“But what the ownership has said, again clearly and consistently, is that under the right terms and conditions we would consider taking on a minority investor, if such a partnership was to further our commercial interests in specific market places and in line with the continued development and growth of the club and the team.”

Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan established Bin Zayed Group of Companies in 1988, a leading conglomerate of business.

While not having the billion dollar wealth of the likes of Sheik Mansour, he is said to be a leading entrepreneur in the region.

He is a member of the World Economic Forum, Vice Chairman of Human Appeal International and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Dubai Economic Council.

Last October Liverpool owners reportedly turned down a £1.5billion offer to buy the club from a consortium led by Amanda Staveley.

Staveley and here PCP Capital Partners Group have been heavily linked with a takeover bid for Newcastle United in recent weeks. But this was only after FSG turned down a bid for the Reds.

Reports in Dubai say that they were involved in negotiations with FSG for more than a year, according to The National.

The report claims that the sale was called off at the eleventh hour, with FSG confident that they could seal a better price for the club in the club in the future given the rosy economic outlook for the Premier League.

PSG then denied the report.