Millionaire owners now appear to be two a penny in the Barclays Premier League but it emerged yesterday that Roman Abramovich, the daddy of them all, could have a serious rival. It was reported that Lakshmi Mittal, the world’s fifth-richest man, is showing interest in Birmingham City.

Birmingham are in the throes of takeover talks with an unidentified businessman from the Far East but should Mittal, the Indian steel magnate, make it a two-way fight, the bidding could rise steeply. Mittal and his family are worth £19.2 billion, almost twice that of Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, at £10.8 billion.

Mittal, who lives in Central London but has no previous connection with football, attended a shareholders’ meeting in the Netherlands yesterday. A Mittal Steel source described the news of a possible move from Mittal, 56, as “complete rubbish, though that’s only a gut reaction”, while officials at Birmingham also doubted its validity. “Yes, we’ve heard about this,” one said, “but it seems that it’s little more than a Chinese whisper.”

Although the members of the Birmingham board have had no contact with any Mittal representative, they are continuing discussions with the potential investor from the Far East. He and his advisers are expected to fly to England “in the next few days” to examine the club accounts. As yet, there has been no firm offer.

David Sullivan, the co-owner of the club and plc chairman, is known to be keen to sell, having grown disillusioned with football. David Gold, the club chairman, and his brother, Ralph, the third co-owner, would rather retain control unless they viewed the deal as in the “best interests of the club”.

Having returned to the Premier League at the first attempt, Birmingham are an attractive proposition. They are free of debt and negotiations have reopened with the city council over plans to build a new stadium.

— Derby County have named Trevor Birch as their new chief executive. Birch, who has held similar roles at Chelsea, Leeds United and Everton, has also been appointed a member of the board at the Premier League newcomers. He replaces Mike Horton, who was known to have clashed with Billy Davies, the club’s manager.