Bristol City takeover latest: club director speaks out as Turki Alalshikh eyes stunning £1.5b alternative deal
The latest developments surrounding Turki Alalshikh’s rumoured interest in buying Bristol City
Bristol Sport Group CEO and club director Gavin Marshall has told reporters that claims of a Saudi Arabian takeover are "purely speculation" at this stage.
Earlier this week, Bristol World relayed reports that claiming that Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh was interested in investing in the club. It’s not the first time that these reports have circulated in the media, with claims of a potential takeover first emerging during the summer transfer window.
Alalshikh is a Saudi Arabian sports promoter, who acts as chairman of the countries General Entertainment Authority (GEA), meaning he’s in charge of organising significant sporting events in the country. He’s best associated with boxing and is credited with working on a series of high profile bouts, including Tyson Fury’s two fights for the undisputed heavyweight title with Oleksandr Usyk as well as other notable fights involving names such as Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz Jr, Deontay Wilder, Francis Ngannou and many more.
The 44-year-old used to be the owner of the Egyptian football club Pyramids from 2018 to 2019, and was also the owner of second division Spanish side between 2019 and 2025 before selling his shares over the summer.
Is Turki Alalshikh going to buy Bristol City?
Gavin Marshall told BBC Radio Bristol that the club has not yet been in contract with Alalshikh, adding that talk over the boxing promoter investing in the club is not on the cards at this moment.
"It's just purely speculation. Since Steve's (Lansdown, owner) been open about looking for investment we've had a lot of speculation around different interested parties," said Marshall.
The news comes as WSL 2 side Bristol City Women have been sold by the Lansdown family to investment group Mercury13. Any sale is complicated by the fact the club - as the women's side previously did - sits under the Bristol Sport umbrella, which also comprises Bristol Bears' men's and women's rugby teams and the Bristol Flyers basketball outfit.
Turki Alalshikh could shift his attention towards Matchroom boxing
Earlier this week, it was claimed that Alalshikh believed that Bristol City presented a better investment opportunity for him than Sheffield Wednesday. Reports claimed Wednesday’s Yorkshire location in the north of the country did not appeal ‘whatsoever’ while Bristol’s location in the South West appealed more due to its good transport links to London and the fact it has a major airport connected to cities around Europe.
However, it’s also speculated that Al-Sheikh could explore a new opportunity in boxing instead. Barry Hearn has been at the forefront of sports promotion for decades with the company Matchroom, but new revelations suggest the company's founder and president would consider cashing in.
Speaking on Netflix's 'Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen', which gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Hearn and his son's business, the 77-year-old disclosed: "It (Matchroom) is worth now north of £1 billion. I'm not going to gamble away my fortune. But if the right deal comes along, selling Matchroom is not out of the question.”
The report suggests that the figure could be in the region of £1.5b. In a later episode, Hearn can be heard speaking with his son Eddie and discussing a conversation with Alalshikh and he says: "I just spoke to Turki [Alalshikh]. He goes: 'Just to let you know, please keep it confidential that we are trying to buy Matchroom.’”