Atletico Madrid's owners are in advanced negotiations to sell a majority stake of the Spanish football club's shares to US private equity firm Apollo Global Management, according to various reports citing sources close to the deal.

Both the American firm and Atletico declined to confirm the reports when asked by AFP.

"To get good results and keep the fans happy, you have to keep investing significant money in players and infrastructure," said Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin at a sports and business event on Tuesday, in part hosted by Expansion.

"That investment has to come from outside... now we are open to a new investor coming into the ownership group."

Apollo are looking to buy a portion of the shares from the four current partners, according to Spanish newspaper Expansion.

Gil

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