Liverpool has had it’s fair share of problems under the ownership duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, but if reports coming out of England this morning are to be believed, the 46th richest man in the WORLD for 2008 is in talks to purchase the club.

Via DailyMail

Liverpool have been on a covert mission to the Middle East in an attempt to sell the club to one of the richest men in the world.

The Anfield party, led by finance director Phil Nash, have been in Kuwait talking with billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi.

Al-Kharafi, who studied business administration at the Liverpool College of Commerce, showed great interest in buying the club last autumn but a bid never materialised owing to the £600million price that the American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were quoting.

Al-Kharafi is president of the family conglomerate the Al-Kharafi Group, whose varied interests include running fast-food franchises such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Wimpy throughout the Middle East.

Forbes ranked him at No 46 in their 2008 list of the world’s richest people. The family made a fortune in engineering and construction before diversifying into an international business empire.

Al-Kharafi was serious enough about buying Liverpool last year to have hired football stockbroker specialists Seymour Pierce, though his camp deny reports that they were also approached by Mike Ashley to buy Newcastle.

Image via TheSpoiler