Leeds United's Premier League rivals ‘in talks’ to buy more clubs after £120 million takeover

The American entrepreneur was rebuffed in his attempts to lure former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa to the Vitality Stadium, but remains keen to add further teams to his portfolio of European football clubs.

Foley, 78, disclosed in a recent interview that the necessary cost to establish a Las Vegas-based MLS franchise would be somewhere in the region of $1 billion, which instead led the businessman to invest in existing football clubs at a fraction of the price in Europe.

The financier aims to establish a ‘multi-club model’ and says he has currently entered into an exclusivity period to buy French club Lorient, as well as an unnamed Belgian side.

Foley’s £120 million Bournemouth acquisition reflects the growing interest in Premier League teams from super-rich American businesspeople. Leeds’ minority shareholders 49ers Enterprises – based out of San Francisco, California – own 44 per cent of the Elland Road club at present, but are expected to purchase a majority stake in the months to come, having incrementally increased their investment over several years.

"We’re very committed to a multi-club concept,” Bournemouth chief Foley told Sky Sports.

“If they go through, they give us the perfect situation to move players back and forth, around that three club context,” he added, discussing the bid to bring Lorient and a Belgian Pro League side under his umbrella with Bournemouth as the parent club.

A multi-club model was at one stage a goal of current Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani’s. With the Italian expected to sell a controlling stake in Leeds to 49ers Enterprises, that no longer appears a realistic possibility, however the 49ers’ own intentions for the club remain somewhat unclear and could feasibly aim to follow Foley’s example.

Foley’s investment group made attempts to appoint Marcelo Bielsa as the Cherries’ new boss prior to the completion of their takeover, however the Argentine declined the opportunity to manage another Premier League club. In his place, caretaker manager Gary O’Neil has been installed as the club’s permanent head coach.

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace part-owner John Textor, a US-based investor, completed the purchase of French giants Olympique Lyonnais this week, as yet more American money floods into European football.