Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have turned down a takeover bid of £3bn for the club, according to reports.
The offer, understood to have come from the Middle East, was made to FSG prior to the announcement on Sunday night that principal owner John W. Henry had been involved in talks to take Liverpool into the ill-fated European Super League,
Despite lost revenue in excess of £100m at Anfield as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the offer to buy the club was rejected by the Liverpool owners.
The Mirror also claim that following anger aimed at FSG in the wake of the failed Super League plot there are other potential bidders waiting in the wings to see if the stance of Henry and Liverpool chairman Tom Werner changes as a result of the enormous criticism they face.
Liverpool fans, along with supporters of the other five Premier League clubs who had sought to form the new competition, made their feelings on FSG dragging the Reds into the conversation abundantly clear, with banners unfurled outside Anfield and protests from fans making it clear to the American owners that it was something they did not want.
FSG have had a strained relationship with Liverpool fans in recent months and have been criticised for putting money over success when it comes to spending in the transfer market, with the Reds forking out much less than their rivals.
FSG took charge of Liverpool in 2010, buying the club for around £300m to end the reign of the deeply unpopular Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Anfield, the American duo having left the Reds on a financial cliff edge by the time their exit arrived.
The Reds have been turned into a profitable business valued at £2bn most recently, and the hiring of Jurgen Klopp in 2015 has seen them claim silverware in the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 – their first English league title in 30 years.