Liverpool takeover news as expert gives Bahrain and Oman verdicts amid FSG sale

A potential Liverpool takeover from a Bahrain sovereign fund is highly unlikely.

That is according to Kristian Ulrichsen, who is a fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute think tank based at Rice University.

The Reds are on the market with Fenway Sports Group (FSG) seeking additional investment having owned the club since 2010.

Since it became public knowledge in early November that Liverpool were up for sale, a host of parties have been linked. Unsurprisingly, several of those have come from the Middle East given the influx of investment into football from the region.

Already, Manchester City are owned by a United Arab Emirates-based private equity company, Newcastle United were purchased by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund last year while Paris-Saint Germanin's owners are a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.

A Saudi-Qatari consortium and the Dubai Investment Capital have been mentioned as potential parties who could lodge a bid for Liverpool.

Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund is Mumtalakat Holding. CBS Sports has already played down Bahrain could be interested in Liverpool. That's despite the country already venturing into football having bought a 20% stake in French second-tier side Paris FC in July 2020.

And speaking to The Athletic, Ulrichsen says that the country would not be wealthy enough to pay the billions of pounds it would cost to buy Liverpool or Manchester United, who are also up for sale.

Ulrichsen said: “Bahrain don’t have much oil and the Bahrain economy is struggling. They could take over a smaller team, but I don’t see them having the resources to take over Liverpool or Manchester United.

“They have taken over the second team in Paris, for example. Kuwait and Oman haven’t shown any interest. Kuwait has the resources but doesn’t seem to have the interest. Oman might have interest, but has a lack of resources.”