Hull City could soon be under Chinese ownership after it emerged the owners, the Allam family, are in advanced talks to sell the Premier League club.

Ehab Allam, Hull’s vice-chairman, is discussing a sale with Dai Yongge and his sister Hawken Xiu Li who are leading a consortium of investors from mainland China and Hong Kong.

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It is understood they made an offer to buy Hull last week and that members of the consortium visited the club’s training ground at Cottingham on Tuesday. The consortium have not yet completed the due diligence process and an exact price has still to be finalised.

Ehab Allam, running the club in the absence of his seriously ill father, Assem, has been attempting to sell for some time but put the process on hold during a turbulent summer that has seen Steve Bruce resign as the manager and the club fail to sign a single player.

Mike Phelan, standing in as the manager, has only 13 fit senior players at his disposal for Leicester’s visit on Saturday when Hull fans plan to protest against the owners.

Although there was previous interest from American bidders – and another Chinese group are also said to be waiting in the wings – they ultimately came to nothing.

The new group do appear serious about wanting to replace the Allams. Having made their fortune in real estate, they already own Beijing Renhe, a Chinese second division club and are keen to move into English football.