Journalist drops major Liverpool takeover update as potential European bid revealed

A journalist has given a significant update on interested parties surrounding a potential Liverpool takeover.

FSG announced back in November to The Athletic's David Ornstein that they would 'consider new shareholders' but only if it was 'in the best interests of Liverpool as a club'.

The club's chairman, Tom Werner, then told the Boston Globe that FSG were exploring a sale of Liverpool, which sparked plenty of rumours surrounding interested parties.

However, there have no public expressions of interest from any party in taking over the club, or acquiring a minority stake - unlike in the case of Manchester United, where Ineos and its founder and CEO, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, have stated that they are formally entering the bidding process to take over the club.

In Liverpool's case, CBS Sports reporter Ben Jacobs claimed last month that the club are 'heading towards minority investment', which would therefore involve FSG staying on at the club.

However, the Liverpool Echo report that it could be a 'drawn-out process', with no timescale on how long it may take for new investment, if there is to be any at all, to arrive.

But This is Anfield journalist David Lynch has given a key update on the state of play over interest in a Liverpool sale.

Liverpool takeover update provided

Lynch has claimed that FSG have held talks with a number of different groups over investment into Liverpool - most notably at least one European party.

He writes: "Mercifully, there remains hope that some much-needed certainty will arrive before the summer, particularly with exploratory talks still being currently held with Qatari, German, US and Saudi investors interested in a buyout."

Whilst there is no indication as to the identity of the German investor(s), Saudi Arabia's sports minister has previously stated that the state would support a Saudi public sector bid for either Manchester United or Liverpool.

He told BBC Sport in November: "From the private sector, I can't speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there's a lot of passion about football.

"It [the Premier League] is the most-watched league in Saudi and the region and you have a lot of fans of the Premier League. We will definitely support it if any [Saudi] private sector comes in, because we know that's going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom."