MUMBAI: A Saudi prince is negotiating to buy a stake in Liverpool Football Club in a deal that could be worth $559 million.

Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah, a businessman based in Al-Khobar in Eastern Saudi Arabia, is currently discussing the deal with the owners of Liverpool.

Over the past few years, investors from Gulf Arab countries have shown growing interest in acquiring soccer clubs, mainly in the English Premier League, which culminated last year in the acquisition of Manchester City by Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment.

Liverpool has been at the centre of this interest after its American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett said in January they were in talks to sell the club for ?500 million, including debt, to a group of investors from the region. Before that, UAE-based Dubai International Capital vied a couple of years back for a stake in Liverpool.