Liverpool owners in talks over £950m takeover of Serie A giants AC Milan

Red Bird Capital, minor owners of Liverpool, are weighing up a late offer to buy Serie A giants AC Milan in a deal that could be worth more than €1bn (£950m).

The private investment firm has held talks with Milan's current American owners Elliot Management, who are looking to sell the San Siro club and have seen a period of exclusive negotiations with another bidder, Investcorp, lapse.

That leaves Elliot free to speak with other prospective buyers and RedBird are among those lining up, as first reported by Sky News.

Red Bird is run by former Goldman Sachs executive Gerry Cardinale and they last year purchased a 10% stake in Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool's owners, worth a reported $750m.

Cardinale's firm bought Ligue 1 club Toulouse in the summer of 2020 and own 15% of the Indian Premier League's Rajasthan Royals. They claim to have more than $5bn worth of assets under their management.

Milan sit top of Serie A, two points ahead of neighbours Internazionale with three games to play as they seek to win a first league title since 2011.

Meanwhile, Liverpool continue to survey their options around a new shirt sponsor with 12 months remaining until their deal with Standard Chartered expires.

A renewal with the banking firm has not been ruled out but, as reported last week, the club is exploring alternatives as they seek to maximise revenue with eyes on a record £80m per year deal.

Liverpool are testing the water by looking at a number of industries including media, tourism and cryptocurrency and no decision is imminent but there is an expectation it will be worth significantly more than the £40m Standard Chartered currently pays to have its logo on the front of shirts and at Anfield.

The cryptocurrency links have raised eyebrows considering the backlash faced by the club following an unsuccessful launch of a non-fungible token range last month.