23 Aug 10 Liverpool Football Club: Chinese Buyout

Rumours and speculation have been flying around over the future ownership of Liverpool Football Club, most notably the prospect of a buyout by Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang. He was first linked to the club in 2008 but was put off by the 650m valuation; the club is currently valued at 350m.

Huang is chairman of Hong Kong based QSL Sports Group and has the backing of a wealthy investment fund behind him. The move could see an end to Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr's shambolic control over the club.

RBS have insisted the owners are obliged to consider any offer for the club due to their 237m debt. Huang has offered to buy the debt from RBS in order to seal the deal, but the American owners have told RBS that they are in negotiations with former football international and Syrian Businessman Yahra Kirdi, this is expected to be an attempt to prise more money from the Chinese.

If Hicks and Gillett took the offer they would make no profit from the sale of the club which they bought in 2007 for 218.9m, they are reportedly hoping for an offer in the region of600m.

Manager Roy Hodgson has explained that the uncertainty of the club needs to be resolved before it is too late to bring in new players before the transfer window. If there is no successful buyout, RBS could call in a percentage of their loan and potentially push the club into administration.

There has been some controversy surrounding Huang's bid as he is said to be backed by the Chinese government particularly because of the clubs popularity in the country and the readily available capital.

If his firm does acquire the club and uses government funding, it will mean substantial investment for Liverpool, more money for players and an ability to charge larger amounts for sponsorship contracts as their games will undoubtedly be viewed en mass in china, particularly if they conveniently sign some new Chinese talent.

If the buy out goes ahead there's a chance we could see a new, Chinese sponsor on the Liverpool football shirt and possibly a Chinese alternative to the popular Adidas Predators boots that many of the players favour.

Tags: banking, china, cole, football, gerrard, government, hodgeson, Liverpool, Sports & Recreation, torres