We asked AI to value QPR, Charlton Athletic and Watford amid John Textor takeover links | OneFootball

The American has his eye on multiple Championship clubs at present

American businessman John Textor has been heavily linked with a takeover at a plethora of English sides during the opening weeks and months of the 2025/26 season.

This all comes after the 60-year-old sold all £190m worth of his shares in Premier League side, FA Cup winners and current UEFA Europa Conference League competitors, Crystal Palace, to New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson.

The result of such developments came after Textor was at the forefront of a controversial UEFA ruling, during which the European organisation deemed the Eagles to have breached its 'multi-club' ownership rules due to Textor's involvement with Ligue 1 side and French giants, Lyon, who also qualified for the UEFA Europa League at the end of last season despite fears of financial uncertainty and a potential demotion of their own to Ligue 2.

As such, the Botafogo owner is now looking for the latest club to become a part of his Eagle Football Holdings empire which, according to reports, had a valuation of £1.47bn as recently as November 2024.

Several clubs in the Premier League and Championship have been tracked by the American as a result, most notably, Sheffield Wednesday, who currently find themselves in administration after being placed into such measures by former owner, Dejphon Chansiri.

However, the Owls are competing alongside several divisional rivals on this particular front, with Textor aware of boardroom situations at all of Derby County, Charlton Athletic, Watford and Queens Park Rangers too.

With that being said, Football League World enlisted the help of AI-based algorithm, ChatGPT, and asked the programme to estimate the values of the two London clubs and the Hornets amid talks of a potential takeover by Textor.

AI predicts QPR, Charlton Athletic and Watford FC valuations amid John Textor takeover links

All three clubs have been the subject of recent controversial ownership groups in the past, with Watford still under the Pozzo family's regime, Charlton are currently under the watch of SE7 Partners following a takeover in 2023, whilst Rangers are under the joint-ownership of Ruben Gnanalingam, Richard Reilly and Amit Bhatia.

Textor's interest in the trio came amid links of another ambitious takeover of Premier League strugglers, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

At present, Rangers are looking much more stable on and off the pitch after years of uncertainty under Tony Fernandes, which almost culminated in relegation to League One back in the 2022/23 season.

Despite this, AI describes the Hoops as a "high-risk" asset worth potentially between £40m and £70m at this moment in time, although it believes a rather bullish owner may look to strike a deal north of £80m, which does seem extremely ambitious.

Once again, AI cited it's capital city location as a key attraction when it comes to any prospective Addicks owner, although it believes the newly-promoted side, who returned to the Championship after five years in League One, are realistically going to be worth between £20m and £35m at present when assessing all assets and their realistic values.

Watford are, of course, the club within said trio which boasts the most recent Premier League pedigree, albeit the Hornets have now entered their first campaign without the benefit of parachute payments.

Remarkably, though, AI claims that the outfit now managed by Javi Gracia could be sold for a hefty £150m to £200m, which would be one of, if not the most notable takeover(s) in Championship history.

QPR, Charlton Athletic and Watford FC's current estimated market values

It's fair to say that some of AI's aforementioned claims are far more realistic than others, particularly when viewing each of the three clubs' current ESTIMATED market values, as per Transfermarkt.

According to the site, Rangers have the 18th-highest market value in the Championship, which equates to approximately £42.04m, whilst Watford are positioned four places above with a valuation claim equated to £50.74m.

Unsurprisingly, though, Charlton currently find themselves as the second-lowest club in the division when it comes to market value, with the cash-strapped Sheffield Wednesday only in a worse position on said front.

At present, the side from The Valley are currently said to be worth around £22.13m, making AI's previous claim far more realistic if Textor was to take majority control of the club.