Liverpool's US owner, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), is in talks to sell a significant minority stake in the club to a consortium led by Queens Park Rangers co-owner Amit Bhatia, backed financially by his father-in-law, the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. FSG confirmed the negotiations in a statement to the Financial Times, describing the approach as a "strategic minority investment" proposal. The deal would mark a huge windfall for FSG, which paid just £300m to take control of Liverpool in 2010, and underlines growing investor appetite for stakes in top English football clubs.

The proposed deal would value Liverpool at around £4.5bn, a figure industry sources called surprisingly high compared with recent sales of similarly sized Premier League clubs, such as Chelsea's £2.5bn sale in 2021 and Sir Jim Ratcliffe's £3.9bn valuation when buying 25% of Manchester United in 2024. The Mittal family reportedly manages assets worth £16bn, giving the consortium clear financial capacity to complete the purchase. Signalling his commitment to the bid, Bhatia resigned as a QPR director on Tuesday after 19 years in the role, while Liverpool, now under new head coach Andoni Iraola, continue their US pre-season tour ahead of facing Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday.