Prime minister Boris Johnson has given his indirect approval to Saudi Media's Chelsea takeover bid by talking about building a relationship between the UK and Middle Eastern partners.
This follows on from sports minister Nigel Huddleston's recent claim about Saudi Arabia that will boost Saudi Media's hopes of a £2.7billion bid to takeover from Roman Abramovich ahead of Friday's deadline for offers to be submitted to US investment bank Raine Group.
Saudi Media, which is run by Mohamed Alkhereiji, says that it has no direct involvement with the Saudi state but earlier this week CBS Sports claimed that there is support in finding funding and partners (but not financial backing) from Mohammed bin Khalid Al Saud. Any direct involvement from Al Saud would lead to a conflict of interest that would not pass the Premier League's Owners' and Directors' Test because a group run by the Saudi state is already in charge at Newcastle United.