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A Chinese businessman linked to a string of so-far unfulfilled big-money investment pledges was the man behind a potential rival bid for Swansea City, WalesOnline understands.

The Swans saw a change of ownership for the first time in more than a decade last year when American duo Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien snapped up 68 per cent of the club from existing shareholders.

The deal that saw the club valued at more than £100m was first revealed in April 2016 and came after months of behind-closed-doors talks, ones that angered the club’s 21 per cent-owning Supporters Trust who say they were excluded from discussions.

But it also emerged that a previously unnamed Chinese consortium had declared an interest in making a rival bid to buy a stake in the club.

Separate sources subsequently confirmed to WalesOnline a figurehead of the Chinese group was Peter Zhang, managing director of investment company SinoFortone.

The company made headlines in Wales after an announcement they were to invest £2bn to back biomass power plants in Holyhead and Port Talbot. The plan, unveiled in October 2015, pledged to create more than 1,000 jobs in Wales.

Zhang attended the Swans’ March 2016 win over Aston Villa and held London meetings with club directors. Initially, some sources downplayed his presence in the directors box for the Liberty Stadium visit of Villa in terms of his potential interest in the club.

It was claimed at the time that Zhang was there as part of a possible wider investment into the city.

However, it is understood that Zhang did declare an interest in the club.

WalesOnline has attempted to contact Mr Zhang for comment.

Some Swansea supporters have questioned why the Chinese interest wasn’t more fully followed up, though it is thought some directors were left unconvinced by the proposal.

Ultimately, the potential deal was knocked back by directors who were keen to press ahead with the advanced negotiations with Kaplan and Levien.

Zhang’s group was then reported to have also made a move for Liverpool, with a £700m bid said to have been in play but it was of no interest to the Reds’ own American owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG). A newspaper investigation has highlighted how a number of publicly planned investments from SinoFortone are yet to materialise.

A Sunday Times report noted that despite the company having publicised a number of big-money commitments, only one deal has been completed – a £2m purchase of a 16th Century Buckinghamshire pub.

Orthios Group, a Chester-based firm, planned to develop the Welsh biomass projects with SinoFortone’s financial backing but have confirmed the deal with SinoFortone had been terminated and they were pursuing other avenues of funding.

The Sunday Times lists a number of deals, as well as the £2bn into two biomass plants in Wales, that SinoFortune were publicly linked to including a £10bn “memorandum of understanding” with the Scottish government involving investment into housing and transport.

Zhang was pictured with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the time before the agreement was cancelled in August.

The Sunday Times reported there was no sign of the company at its address, a serviced office in Mayfair, London, when they made attempts to visit.

Zhang told the Sunday Times that the SinoFortone website was down for updating and the office visited by reporters was a virtual office, also stating that “large infrastructure deals take several years to put together .... we’re trying our best to make these things happen and if things have not yet happened, I wouldn’t say it’s our fault.”

The change of ownership at Swansea City has seen tensions between supporters and previous and current shareholders, with the Supporters Trust going on record regarding its anger and disappointment at the nature of the deal which, they say, they were not fully aware of until the final stages.

The rapport between the different parties has notably improved in recent weeks following a string of meetings and acceptance from the Americans that events leading up to the summer takeover should have been handled better.