The owners of French giants Paris Saint Germain are "closely following" the Championship with a view to buying a club in the second tier of English football, it has been reported.

In early April, French publication Le Parisien had claimed that QSI, who own the French champions, were considering purchasing a club in the second tier of English football, with Aston Villa; Nottingham Forest and QPR among the names linked with the Qatar investors.

Those reports appear to now have grown stronger still, after Sport Witness revealed that Thursday's edition of Le Parisien states that the owners of the French Champions are now "closely following" England's second tier, having started to feel underappreciated at PSG.

Of the clubs linked with the investors, only Forest and QPR, who sit 11th and 19th in the table respectively, are guaranteed to be in the Championship next season, with Aston Villa set to be among the four teams who will battle it out for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs at the end of the season.

The verdict

Given QSI's history with PSG, this could be a hugely exciting prospect for supporters of the sides mentioned in the report here.

All of the sides involved here have experienced uncertainty around their owners and finances in recent years, so to have the financial strength of the investors who have bankrolled PSG's French dominance in recent years would be a huge confidence boost.