British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia is part of a consortium in talks to buy a small stake in Liverpool that could take the club’s value to north of £4.5billion.

Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, was co-owner at Championship side Queens Park Rangers – and has a stand named after him at Loftus Road – before surprisingly stepping down from their ownership setup on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group said in a statement: ‘An investment consortium led, managed, and represented by Amit Bhatia has expressed interest in making a strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club.’

Nothing is official yet and, if it was to proceed, it would follow a similar structure to a deal made three years ago when FSG sold a small stake to sports investment firm Dynasty.

Liverpool are currently in Chicago as they begin their pre-season tour of the USA. 

Andoni Iraola's side play Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday, followed by Wrexham in New York and Leeds back in Chicago, before returning home at the start of August.