A large Qatari telecommunications company is in talks to sponsor Liverpool Football Club and possibly rename Anfield Stadium, it is reported.

A director at Ooredoo (formerly Qatar Telecom), is quoted by Al Jazeera saying:

“The goal was to sponsor a big English club with a huge history, our search included Arsenal & Manchester United but the former two have long sponsorship deals and the same applies to Manchester City so Liverpool is the only club available right now.” “We want to sponsor the club in full. We want to sponsor the Stadium (possibly rename it) as well as the club’s kits. Our goal is to reach the Asian markets where the Premier League has an enormous fan base.” “We received the tender from the club a few days ago and we are currently in the process of due diligence and we are studying each aspect of the study.” “It is a dual interest, Liverpool needs the money to compete with the European heavyweights and we want to expand our brand to reach new markets via football.”

Liverpool are currently sponsored by Standard Chartered, in a deal that is worth £20m per year, but that expires next summer.

In October last year, managing director Ian Ayre said “There won’t be a naming rights deal for Anfield.”

Translation via RAWK.