Turki Alalshikh drops new Derby County takeover hint | OneFootball

Could the Saudi boxing mogul be set to invest in the Rams?

Derby County may have narrowly missed out on the Championship's play-off spots in 2025-26, but with two more places coming up for grabs next season, there is hope that 2026-27 could be their year.

The Rams were at one point in the top six on the final day of the campaign, but with Sheffield United turning the Pride Park clash on its head and Hull City going on to beat Norwich City, it saw the Tigers progress and Derby fall short.

It's easy to forget that given how well they did this season, Derby were in financial turmoil just a few years ago when previous owner Mel Morris put the club into administration in 2021, and nine months later, local businessman and lifelong fan David Clowes would save them from potential extinction, in a deal that was overall worth around £55 million when creditors being satisfied were taken into account.

And whilst County have kicked on again and are stable financially under Clowes' leadership, he has not made secret of his desire to at some point secure external investment to help the club kick on to the next level, and perhaps back to the Premier League for the first time since 2008.

No investor has yet been forthcoming with the cash to help Derby move to their next step, but could Saudi sports supremo Turki Alalsheikh be that man?

Turki Alalshikh issues new cryptic Derby County-related tweet

There was much confusion last week when an eagle-eyed Rams fan had spotted that Alalshikh had followed multiple Derby-related accounts on social media platform X - including the official account of the club.

And in what could be seen as a new hint from the 44-year-old, Alalshikh has simply tweeted 'Derby' with a shrugging emoji, accompanied by a rather random but potentially cryptic video, with the song 'Rasputin' by Boney M sounded over the top.

Could this mean anything serious? Well, Boxing advisor Sam Jones is a Derby fan and has perhaps jokingly suggested Alalshikh is now a fan, but he has had takeover talks with other EFL clubs in recent times.

Bristol City confirmed last October that Alalshikh had held investment talks with the Robins, but nothing ended up coming of it, and earlier in 2025 he had also been linked with negotiations at Millwall, with ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan confirming the Middle Eastern billionaire's interest in the Lions as well as Southampton a year ago, citing he wanted a club in the south of England.

How much is Turki Alalsheikh worth amid Derby County takeover speculation?

Derby of course are not in the south but the Midlands, so perhaps Alalshikh has changed his tact if he really is interested in the Rams.

He certainly has the wealth to make a difference though. A high ranking member of the Saudi government, Alalshikh is chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, and is credited with bringing some of the biggest sporting events to their nation, with Boxing a main focus there.

And with his work in Saudi and across the world, Alalshikh has built up a net worth of £2.1 billion (as per CEO Today), which would give him an ample amount of cash to work with if he were to come into an EFL club such as Derby.

Alalshikh is no stranger to football club ownership too, having owned Egyptian club Pyramids for a year as well as owning Spanish outfit Almeria from 2019 until 2025, before selling to another group of Saudi investors - there may be some skepticism about his actual interests in Derby, but he could theoretically be an interested investor for their future.