Liverpool reject £2 billion takeover bid from Sheikh Mansour's cousin

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Bengaluru, August 25: Liverpool owner John Henry and his Fenway Sports Group have reportedly rejected a £2billion takeover bid from a cousin of Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour.

Henry and Fenway received a bid from Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan, an Emirati member of the family that governs Abu Dhabi, twice in the last one year. Sheikh Khaled is also one of the Gulf state’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Sheikh Khaled allegedly met Liverpool chairman Tom Werner on a number of occasions in New York. A third party – a Chinese investor that wants to hold a smaller stake – was also part of the discussions. During the informal talks between them, Sheikh Khaled expressed his desire to take over the club and the £2bn valuation was agreed. But the proposal never got past the discussion stage and it has now emerged that the club’s major shareholders, John W Henry and Mike Gordon, quickly declined the proposal.

FSG has made it completely clear that the club is not for sale at any cost at the moment and only sponsorship money would be welcome.

The Merseyside club also released a statement explaining their refusal to sell:

"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 marketplaces and in line with the continued development and growth of the club and the team."

Had the full takeover of the Sheikh been approved, it would have been the most expensive purchase in the footballing history. But it appears unlikely that FSG is letting go of the club.

But should they or some management come up with a small investment proposal, FSG might be ready to sell some percentage in the club to bring more money into the side and compete against money monsters like Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.

Since its £300m purchase of the club in October 2010, FSG has slowly but steadily injected a lot of money into the side. They invested £115m for the redevelopment of Anfield’s Main Stand and £50m to build a new training ground. That apart, they appointed the high profile manager Jürgen Klopp on a six-year contract in 2016 and also spent around £170m on transfers this summer.