Liverpool consider Chinese takeover: report

Premier League club Liverpool could be bought by a Chinese business tycoon within days, according to reports here on Monday.

Kenny Huang, head of Hong-Kong based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, is reported to be in talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland with the aim of taking full control of the club which has been up for sale since April.

“A deal has to be done before the transfer window closes (on 31 August),” a source close to Huang told BBC Sport.

“Huang has made a firm proposal. The club’s board has to sanction the sale and it could be sewn up in days.”

Huang is offering to clear Liverpool’s debt to RBS and hand new manager Roy Hodgson funds to do business in the transfer window. The tycoon also plans to build the club a new stadium.

Huang reportedly turned down the chance to buy Liverpool in 2008 because he felt a valuation of 650 million pounds was too high, and it is believed he now values the club at around 350 million pounds (423 million euros).

The current owners, Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett, bought the club in March 2007 in a deal worth 218.9 million pounds.

The pair refinanced with a 350-million-pound package from two banks the following year but the package left the 18-time English champions with a debt in the region of 105 million pounds.

The pair have had a difficult tenure at Anfield, with supporters regularly protesting at the level of debt taken on by the club after the buy-out, and new stadium plans.