One team that will be splashing a lot of money in this window is Everton after they received financial backing from Iranian millionaire Farhad Moshiri and it looks like their arch rivals Liverpool will follow suit with rumours of an impending £700m takeover from an investment group, SinoFortone, supported by the Chinese state government. However, the owners including John W Henry are reluctant to sell the club they acquired for £300 million from Hicks and Gillett back in October 2010.
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The company has £5.2 billion to invest in new projects in the United Kingdom and has already committed £2 billion to the Orthios Eco Parks to develop waste power stations in Wales, as well as the development of an amusement park in Kent. If rumours are to be believed then the Liverpool owners were aware of this particular interest as early as March 2016.
However, it’s also claimed that the group have even gone as far as exploring options for a new stadium in Liverpool’s dockland area, and redeveloping the club’s training ground. This might appeal more to key yet ageing figureheads like Henry and chairman Tom Werner, who will both turn 67 at their next birthdays.
The bidder specialises in the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, seaports, airports and powerstations across China and in the Middle East. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon signed off the contract, which might eventually be worth £10bn.
News has been relatively slow in the past couple of days, but we woke up this morning to see that a billionaire Chinese consortium are genuinely trying to buy Liverpool Football Club….
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SinoFortone has earmarked a substantial sum towards the London Paramount Entertainment Resort, which is due to open in Dartford, Kent, in 2021. The development will include 850 new houses, 150,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, and a new hotel.
