Scots-based millionaire leads ambitious bid to buy Premier League-winning club – and he considered buying RANGERS too

A SCOTS-INDIAN businessman is plotting an ambitious swoop to buy former Premier League champions Leicester City. Neil Lal, chairman and president of The Indian Council of the United Kingdom has put together a consortium with the aim of taking the Foxes back to their previous heights. Neil Lal and a consortium of Indian businesses are looking to become the new chiefs of Leicester City Lal is chairman and president of The Indian Council of Scotland and the UK Credit: SUPPLIED Thai owners King Power put the club up for sale this week, with the group expecting to rake in over £200million for the club after 16 years in charge. And now the Scots businessman has expressed his interest in taking the reigns of the East Midlands outfit, putting in an enquiry to Leicester chiefs in writing. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Lal exclusively told SunSport: “We are looking at the Leicester situation and have written to the club for information with regards to the financials. “Leicester City FC is a great football club with with wonderful fans. “If things go well and both sides are happy then we plan to build the club and put it right back in the top tier of football. “India is a country of 1.4 Billion people, we look to build bridges with different revenue streams from merchandising and streaming, which will not only increase revenue but will build bridges with new fan base on a global platform. “These synergies are what is needed. “We also are looking for a football venture in Scotland. Most read in Football OUR BEST FREE BETS & SIGN-UP OFFERS “There shouldn’t be any changes, for example with the strip or the colours. “In my opinion, the best thing would be to take stock of the situation, and invest in the club for better players and also to increase the revenue. “I touched on Asia, such as India, about merchandising and streaming, as well as increasing the fanbase, I think that’s the best way forward. “The fans, any fans, whether it’s Leicester City football club or Rangers football club or any football club, that’s the heart and soul, and at the end of the day, we need to build the club to where it should be, which is the top tier of football.” Lal and his group don’t just have their sights set on Leicester though. He’s admitting that one day they’d LOVE to take control of Rangers. Lal admitted that it might be soon to launch a takeover bid for the Ibrox club however, with the US 49ers Enterprises freshly in post. Leicester were Premier League champions in 2016 Credit: AFP A decade on, the Foxes now find themselves in League One Credit: Alamy But he has ambitious plans if he ever does get his hands on the Light Blues. He continued: “In Scotland the two largest clubs are Rangers and Celtic. “We are currently looking at the situation and feel that Rangers FC have the potential to do much better and on the pitch and financially. “Once again by increasing the revenue stream with regards to merchandise and streaming on a global scale with India, this will provide more funds to invest in players and to increase the stadium capacity too, which will pay in the long run. “From a 50,000 stadium to 60,000 or more will bring in more revenue. Football has rules and you can only invest on new players depending on your revenue. “There is much improvement that can be done here. If the opportunity arises to invest in Rangers or another club we shall explore that situation when it comes. “The issue with football is Scotland is the that financial revenue are low compared to England. “However with expanding fan base on a global scale clubs can increase there revenue. “Obviously, the new owners have taken over and it has not been easy, they’ve spent a lot of money. “In my opinion, I would rather buy their stake in full if it comes up that it is available, and if it’s at the right price that suits us. “Working in partnership is a possibility, however, I would prefer to buy the full stake for our plans. “What we would plan is to increase the capacity of the stadium, you have the gap sides, you can dig under too, so we could expand it to at least 60,000 or more, that’s one mission. “A hotel can also be built, which would increase more revenue with people staying at the games, with a restaurant there too. “There are many other things that can be done too, but these are the two options. Neil Lal would look to increase Ibrox’s capacity if he took charge of the club Credit: Willie Vass – Commissioned by The Sun Lal and his group would look to buy the full stake from the 49ers if the opportunity presented itself Credit: Willie Vass “If the opportunity came up, we would buy the full stake, but right now it’s a bit too early, it’s not been easy for them, but if the opportunity did come up, and it’s got to be the right price, we would buy the full stake from them. “Lets see what happens, we have a vision and we’re here for the long term – we’re not here to make a quick buck and get out. “India is an integral part to that, Asia in general, it’s all about merchandising, streaming, it’s a global fanbase. “It’s the way forward because of the Fair Play rules, so that is the way forward.” Neither Scots-born Lal nor his consortium have experience working in football. So ensure the footballing side of operations would run smoothly is simple – leave it to the experts. He added: “I’m not a footballer, I’m a football fan, but I’m not a footballer and we should leave that to the people that know the game inside out, we’re businessmen, that’s what we are. “We should hire the best people possible for the roles and also to take it further, I think we should involve the ex-footballers and have a committee who understand the game, on the buying and selling too, and take their advice. “Myself and the consortium are not involved in football. Yes, we are businessmen, yes, we are football fans, but we will not be running the football club as the CEO for example. “We will hire the best people for the job, which is the correct way to do things and I think that’s the best way forward. “What happens is, when you have people who are owners of football clubs, they get a bit emotional, they make mistakes, but I believe we should leave it to the experts “If I’m a baker, and someone asked me to become a florist I wouldn’t have a clue, so there’s no point in me doing that.” Lal already has connections with Rangers, as he awarded the Ibrox club the Indian Council Community Cohesion Award in 2022 on behalf of the Scottish Indian council. Speaking at the time, he said: “We commend the Managing Director, Stewart Robertson, and the board of Rangers FC for their commitment to ensure people of all backgrounds and cultures can enjoy football in a safe and tolerant atmosphere. “The leadership and commitment shown by Rangers FC for their ground-breaking diversity and inclusion campaign, ‘Everyone Anyone’ is worthy of the highest praise.” Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page Comment now