by Bloomberg news

Yahya Kirdi says he’s not a “cowboy” and not crazy enough to pay “one pound more” than the market value of 18-time English soccer champion Liverpool.

The Premier League team has rejected two of his bids after being put up for sale by its American owners in April, Kirdi said in an interview. U.K. media have reported that the offer of the Canadian-based Syrian’s group is higher than those of other possible bidders and is being used by owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to bid up the price.

“I can’t pay one pound more than value of Liverpool,” Kirdi said on the phone from his home in Montreal. “I’m not crazy.”

Reports that he valued the team at 600 million pounds ($947 million) are “not true,” he added. He declined to say what he’d offer for the team. His last bid was rejected in April. Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton said the club doesn’t comment on the sales process.

Liverpool, whose parent company has debts of 351 million pounds, is asking potential bidders to prove they have funds for the purchase before the club’s board meets in two days, two people familiar with the negotiations said yesterday. They said most expressions of interest they’d received valued the team at about 350 million pounds.

Kirdi said he’s backed by “big names” from the Mideast and Canada. He refused to identify them, saying they wanted to remain anonymous until his offer was accepted.