Man United, Liverpool or Spurs may be targets for Qatar Fund

Manchester United, Liverpool  or Tottenham Hotspur are among England’s top Premier League clubs being targeted by Qatar, the Middle Eastern nation buoyed from hosting the most expensive World Cup yet.

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) chair Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently held conversations with Tottenham chair Daniel Levy over the possible purchase of a stake in the London club, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. QSI is also considering both a full takeover and a stake in rivals including Manchester United or Liverpool, added the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.  

A spokesperson for QSI declined to comment. A Tottenham spokesperson denied a meeting took place regarding the sale of equity in the club. A Manchester United spokesperson declined to comment. A Liverpool spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment.

QSI’s deliberations are ongoing and may not lead to a deal, and is also likely to mean a potential sale of its flagship club Paris Saint-Germain.

QSI has decided to consider at least one investment in the Premier League after hosting what the country views as a successful World Cup. The move is both a hedge against investments in less high-profile leagues such as Portugal, and due to the Premier League’s continued growth and global profile.

Any potential deal — either an outright takeover or a minority stake — would further cement Qatar’s strategy of investing in sports assets, partly to boost the country’s profile and to invest its vast wealth from natural resources. 

Qatar spent more than $200bn during the past decade redeveloping the country’s infrastructure to host the World Cup. Alongside building brand-new stadiums and entire municipalities, Qatar has also been buying sports assets, including the takeover of PSG, a stake in Portugal’s SC Braga and the development of sports-focused beIN Media Group. 

The American Glazer family that owns Manchester United is looking for an investor and might be prepared to sell up, while the owners of Liverpool are also weighing a sale.

Tottenham, which has developed a state of the art new stadium with a capacity of more than 60,000, was valued at just under £1.8bn, according to Football Benchmark, an industry data provider and consultant. Rivals Chelsea sold for £2.5bn last year to a US consortium. 

Manchester United shares have been on a strong run since last July when they were trading at only $10.41. They closed on Monday at $23.11, giving the equity a market capitalisation of about $3.8bn.

It is unclear whether QSI has held deal talks with other English clubs, and any potential bid is now at an early stage. CBS Sports first reported the meeting between QSI and Tottenham. 

The Premier League already has two clubs with Middle Eastern owners, with Manchester City owned by Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group and Newcastle United recently acquired by a consortium backed by Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, who are also building out their sporting assets. 

“There’s been a growing interest in English Premier League clubs considering the sale of minority stakes,” says Adam Sommerfeld, managing partner at Certus Capital Partners. “The clubs have watched Manchester United and Liverpool begin processes and are now reacting by leaving themselves open to talks with investors.”

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