Turki Alalshikh, a Saudi billionaire, has emerged as a potential member of a group to buy struggling League One club Leicester City, but his recent actions with Derby County may be viewed as a huge red flag.

The boxing promoter was on the verge of purchasing a significant part in the Rams earlier this year, but the transaction fell through at the last minute, prompting Alalshikh to reverse his mind.

Alalshikh had also been linked with a move to buy Bristol City from Steve Lansdown, but the deal fell through after much speculation.

The Foxes are now looking for a new owner due to financial troubles, with a September 10 deadline for offers.

According to talkSPORT, one of three interested parties is a consortium run by Neil Lal, with Alalshikh having been approached about joining.

However, it is unclear whether he will be involved in any takeover bid, especially given that he was close to joining a Championship team before changing his mind.

Derby County fan cautions Leicester City against Turki Alalshikh’s involvement

When asked what their caution would be for Leicester given the links to Alalshikh, FLW Derby fan pundit Shaun Woodward said they should not get their hopes up about anything.

He believes that the Saudi Arabian is only interested in spreading his name around the game and does not care about football clubs, thus he can not be trusted.

“My advice to Leicester City fans is to not get their hopes up and stay away,” Woodward told Football League World.

“Yes, he has a lot of money, but it’s evident that he’s in it for the publicity, to have his name mentioned and distributed across the sports world.

“He has no regard for football teams, and what he did to Derby was horrible.

“Bristol City attempted to warn us, and now we need to warn Leicester because it’s a terrible feeling when you put your hopes in someone and then it falls through, like it happened with us.

“I believe it has set us back a significant amount of time in terms of transfers and how we intend to move the club ahead with this investment.

“And then it fell through at the last second, leaving everyone with a bad taste in their mouth.”

“So, stay well clear and just don’t get your hopes up yet.”

It was confirmed in early August that Alalshikh’s bid to purchase Derby had failed, leaving Clowes to pick up the pieces.

This disrupted the Rams’ transfer business, and the squad has had a poor start to the current season as a result.

John Eustace will be looking to turn things around in the next games, as the club looks to contend for a play-off spot this season.

Derby placed ninth in the previous season, which will now be enough to earn a chance at promotion because to the extension of the play-off system.

Derby County’s transfer window concluded positively, despite Turki Alalshikh’s U-turn.

Derby completed ten signings by the end of the summer transfer window, including permanent deals for loanees Bobby Clark and David Ozoh.

Alex Mowatt also joined on a permanent basis, while Filip Bilbija, Nicholas Bilolapic, Charlie Taylor, and Ryan Hedges signed as free agents.

Derby County – 2026/27 Signings (Source: Transfermarkt.com)

Player Name

Signed From

Loan/Permanent

Bobby Clark

RB Salzburg

Permanent

David Ozoh

Crystal Palace

Permanent

Alex Mowatt

West Brom

Permanent

Filip Bilija

SC Paderborn

Free agent.

Charlie Taylor

Southampton

Free agent.

Ryan Hedges

Blackburn Rovers

Free agent.

Nicholas Bilokapic

N/A

Free agent.

Henrik Meister

Pisa

Loan

Eira Cashin

Brighton

Loan

Muhammad Fuseini

Union SG

Loan

The Rams also completed loan deals for Henrik Meister, Eiran Cashin, and Mohammed Fuseini, with options to buy clauses included in Meister and Fuseini’s contracts; Eustace will have to stick with this set of players until the window reopens on January 1.

The Turki Alalshikh controversy put Derby County back; Leicester City may suffer similarly.

Derby had a fantastic second season back in the Championship, narrowly losing out on a play-off spot that was much beyond their expectations.

However, their terrible start to this campaign has wiped away most of the optimism for 2026/27 and a probable promotion drive.

Many of their problems are likely the result of a turbulent summer in which the club’s ownership was called into question due to Alalshikh’s takeover proposal.

However, he finally pulled out of the agreement at the last minute, and Leicester must be wary of the 45-year-old doing the same with their team.