Derby County warning issued to Leicester City over Turki Alalshikh - "Stay well clear" | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit has given his verdict on Turki Alalshikh being linked with a takeover of Leicester City

Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh has emerged as a possible member of a consortium to buy stricken League One outfit Leicester City, but his recent actions with Derby County could be seen as a major red flag.

The boxing promoter was close to buying a major stake in the Rams earlier this year before a deal collapsed in the 11th hour, with Alalshikh himself U-turning on his decision.

Alalshikh had also been linked with a potential move to purchase Bristol City from Steve Lansdown, which also failed to come to fruition after much speculation.

The Foxes are currently seeking a new owner amid financial difficulties, and a deadline of September 10 has been set for offers.

It’s been reported by talkSPORT that a group led by Neil Lal, which Alalshikh has been sounded out about being a part of, is one of three interested parties.

However, it remains to be seen whether he will actually be part of any takeover bid, especially after he was close to being involved at a Championship club before changing his mind.

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When asked what their warning would be for Leicester amid links to Alalshikh, FLW’s Derby fan pundit Shaun Woodward claimed that they should avoid getting their hopes up on anything happening.

He believes that the Saudi Arabian is just interested in circulating his name around the game, and that he doesn’t actually care about football clubs, so he is someone that should not be trusted.

“My warning to Leicester City fans would be to not get your hopes up and stay clear,” Woodward told Football League World.

“Yes, he’s got bags of money, but clearly he’s in it for the attention to get his name mentioned and circulated around the sports world.

“He doesn’t care about football clubs, and what he did to Derby was disgusting.

“Bristol City tried to warn us, and now we need to be warning Leicester because it’s a horrible feeling when you pin your hopes on someone, and then it falls through like it did for us.

“It set us back a considerable amount of time I think, with transfers and the way we’re looking at putting the club forward with this investment.

“And then it fell through at the last second, it really did leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

“So, stay well clear and just don’t get your hopes up yet.”

It was confirmed in early August that Alalshikh’s attempt to buy Derby had collapsed, which left Clowes to pick up the pieces.

This proved disruptive to the Rams’ transfer business, and the team have suffered a difficult start to the new campaign as a result.

John Eustace will be hoping to turn things around in the coming fixtures, with the club aiming to compete for a play-off place this season.

Derby finished eighth in the previous campaign, which will now be enough to earn a shot at promotion due to the expansion of the play-off system.

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Derby completed 10 signings by the end of the summer transfer window, including permanent moves for loanees Bobby Clark and David Ozoh.

Alex Mowatt also arrived on a permanent basis, while Filip Bilbija, Nicholas Bilolapic, Charlie Taylor and Ryan Hedges joined as free agents.

The Rams sealed loan moves for Henrik Meister, Eiran Cashin and Mohammed Fuseini too, with Meister and Fuseini's deals having options to buy clauses inserted - Eustace will have to stick with this group of players now until the window opens again on January 1.

Turki Alalshikh saga set Derby County back - Leicester City may suffer similarly

Derby had a great second season back in the Championship, narrowly missing out on a play-off spot, which was well above their expectations.

But their difficult start to this campaign has wiped away a lot of the optimism about 2026/27, and a potential promotion push.

A lot of their difficulties likely stem from their disrupted summer in which the ownership of the club came into question due to Alalshikh’s takeover bid.

But he ultimately backed out of the deal at the last minute, and Leicester will need to be wary of the 45-year-old doing the same with their club.