According to the Liverpool Echo, a Chinese consortium is considering raising its £750 million valuation of Liverpool to £1 billion to acquire a stake in the club.
These reports come in direct contrast with denial from ‘Chinese state-owned conglomerate Everbright’ who denied they were pursuing a stake in Liverpool.
The Echo says that Reuters news agency reported that Everbright chief executive Chen Shuang had unequivocally refuted interest in investing in Liverpool.
“Chen said that after media reports of Everbright’s interest in the football club, he called several executives at different units of Everbright that might be involved in outbound mergers and acquisitions and found no one was working on any such deal. From what he knew, there was never any such deal at Everbright.” their report read.
The Echo say that, in Reuters’ report, the surge in Liverpool’s valuation is due to the stadium redevelopment and the broadcasting revenue from the Premier League. Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, told the Echo last month that the club is not for sale, but that a minority stake is available for the right price.
Liverpool officially became a billion pound club last month, an exponential increase of 58% in the last year. This is according to Forbes in their annual review of the most successful sports team around the globe.
And you thought the transfer window was closed…