Steve Lansdown has said he would sell Bristol City for the right deal and has spoken about seeking investors. Reports that Turki Alalshikh is eyeing a takeover have not been confirmed as a bid. The club confirmed in October 2025 that it had held conversations with Alalshikh, but its chief executive said nothing was imminent. Alalshikh has publicly denied that he would buy the club. The most recent ownership report, from Sky News on 19 August 2026, concerns a separate minority stake and was not confirmed by the parties involved.
What Lansdown has said, in order
Lansdown’s public position has moved from openness to a sale in 2022 to a firmer insistence on the quality of any investor. The table below lists his attributable comments and the reporting around them.
| Date | Source | What was said | What it does and does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2022 | BBC Sport | Lansdown: “I would [sell]. I think if it was the right deal, but I’m not [actively] looking to sell the club.” He said he was seeking investors and acknowledged a buyer might want the whole club. | Conditional openness to a sale. He also said there were no offers on the table and none expected in the short term. |
| 24 February 2025 | BBC Sport | Lansdown: “We’re not close.” He described two investment areas: the wider Sporting Quarter development and the sporting clubs, where investors could invest alongside the family or take over. | No imminent deal. He framed the options as either minority investment or a takeover. |
| 24 February 2025 | BBC Sport | Lansdown: “I’m not going to pass this football club on to somebody who’s going to leverage it.” | A stated condition on who could own the club, focused on borrowing against it. |
| 12 May 2025 | BBC Sport | Lansdown said the club had had “very constructive conversations” with potential new investors from abroad. | Shows interest from overseas. The report does not identify a buyer or say a deal was agreed. |
Read together, these remarks describe a seller-in-principle who wants a specific kind of owner. They do not describe a deal in progress.
What is confirmed about Alalshikh
Two statements from 2025 frame the Alalshikh story, and they do not fully agree with each other.
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- 18 September 2025: Gavin Marshall, chief executive of Bristol Sport Group and a club director, called reports of a Saudi takeover “just purely speculation.” He linked the reports to the family’s general openness to investment.
- 16 October 2025: Club chief executive Tom Rawcliffe confirmed the club had held talks with Alalshikh. He said: “Yes, we had conversations with him [Alalshikh] and we are up for investment but it has to be the right investment.” He added: “At the moment there’s nothing imminent, but we are well backed.” Rawcliffe said the family wanted to sell at some stage, but that the club had not come overly close with interested parties. The BBC report also quotes a September post from Alalshikh: “It is not true that I will buy Bristol City FC 👍”
The sequence is therefore a conversation confirmed by the club, a denial of purchase from Alalshikh earlier in the same autumn, and no later official statement in the reporting that confirms a bid, an agreed sale or active takeover negotiations. Calling this a “surprise” takeover goes further than the evidence supports.
The August 2026 minority stake report
The latest ownership story is about a different buyer. Sky News reported on 19 August 2026 that Steve Lansdown was in advanced negotiations with George Daskalakis, co-founder and chief executive of Kaizen Gaming, over a minority stake. A Bristol City spokesperson and a spokesman for Daskalakis’s investor group declined to comment. Treat this as attributed reporting, not a confirmed transaction.
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The women’s club is a separate transaction
On 8 June 2026, Bristol City Women announced that Mercury13 had acquired a majority stake, with the Lansdown family keeping a minority shareholding. This changed ownership of the women’s club only. It was not a sale of the men’s club, and it should not be read as evidence about the men’s club’s future.
Full sale or minority stake: what would change
Lansdown’s comments point to two different ownership outcomes. The distinction matters for control, for what is included, and for the club’s finances.
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| Factor | Minority investment alongside the family | Full takeover of the club |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership and control | Investor holds a stake; family keeps control. Exact share not stated in the reporting. | Investor takes control of the club. Terms not stated in the reporting. |
| Assets included | Could be limited to the men’s club, or to parts of the wider Bristol Sport interests. Not confirmed for the Daskalakis talks. | Lansdown’s 2022 comments acknowledged a buyer might want the whole club. Treatment of the wider Bristol Sport interests not stated. |
| Funding of the Sporting Quarter | Lansdown framed the Sporting Quarter as one area open to investors. Funding terms not stated. | Not stated in the reporting. |
| Financing approach | Not stated for the Daskalakis talks. | Lansdown said he would not hand the club to an owner who would leverage it. No buyer has been reported with a financing plan. |
| Status in reporting | Advanced talks reported 19 August 2026; not confirmed by the parties. | Conversations confirmed in October 2025; nothing imminent; no agreed offer reported. |
Why leverage is the central concern
Leverage here means borrowing against an asset to fund its purchase. When a buyer borrows to acquire a club, the debt can be secured on the club’s assets or serviced from its income, so the club’s own revenue may carry the cost of repayment. That is the risk Lansdown described when he said he would not pass the club to someone who would leverage it. The reporting does not say whether any named investor plans such a structure, so the concern is a stated condition rather than an identified problem with a specific bidder.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to check takeover headlines
- Check whether the story quotes a named party on the record, such as the club, the Lansdown family or the buyer.
- Separate a confirmed conversation from an agreed sale. The October 2025 confirmation was of talks, not a deal.
- Check whether a report concerns the men’s club, the women’s club or the wider Bristol Sport businesses.
- Note whether a stake is majority, minority or unspecified, since control follows the share.
- Look for an official club statement before treating a reported negotiation as settled.
As of 8 October 2026, the reporting this article draws on does not include a later official statement confirming an Alalshikh bid, a completed sale of the men’s club, or an agreed takeover. If a club or party statement appears, the picture should be updated against it.
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