Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the owners of Liverpool, announced earlier this month it would welcome new investment at the club, while the Glazer family said they will explore a sale of United.

With fellow Premier League club Newcastle United taken over by Saudi owners in October 2021, there has been talk that Liverpool and United could also attract interest from the region.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, the kingdom's sports minister, believes the government would be extremely interested in the possibility of taking over two of the biggest clubs in Europe.

He told said: "From the private sector, I can't speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there's a lot of passion about football.

"It's the most-watched league in Saudi and the region and you have a lot of fans of the Premier League.

"We will definitely support it if any [Saudi] private sector comes in, because we know that's going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom.

"If there's an investor willing to do so and the numbers add up, why not?"