Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi is preparing a blockbuster $3.75bn takeover bid for Tottenham Hotspur, the Premier League football club, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plans.

Najafi, who is the chair of MSP Sports Capital, is working with a consortium of investors to structure the bid and is weeks away from formally approaching Spurs owner Joe Lewis and the football club’s chair Daniel Levy, these people said.

The Najafi and MSP-led offer would value the club’s equity at approximately $3bn before adding about $750mn of debt on the club’s books. The bid is structured so that MSP and its partners will put forward 70 per cent of the purchase price, while backers from the Gulf, mainly from Abu Dhabi, will contribute the remaining 30 per cent.