By Iain Rogers
MADRID (Reuters) - Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, Spanish media reported on Monday.
The deal with Wang, who controls the Dalian Wanda Group conglomerate and is a keen football fan, will be announced in Beijing on Wednesday, according to the reports in sports dailies Marca and As.
Wang has a net worth of $13.2 billion (£8.7 billion), Forbes said in October, putting him fourth on the magazine's China rich list after he topped the ranking the previous year.
His investment in Atletico is worth around 40 million euros (£30.6 million), Marca and As said, without identifying the source of their information. Wanda have called a news conference for Wednesday but did not provide further details.
An Atletico spokesman said on Monday he was unable to confirm the reports and the club would not be making any official comment.
Atletico would be the latest La Liga team to attract significant investment from outside Spain following the likes of Malaga and Valencia.
Malaga were bought out by a member of the Qatar royal family in 2010, while Singapore billionaire Peter Lim recently took a majority stake in Valencia.
La Liga heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona, the world's richest clubs by income, have lucrative deals with investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Atletico's recent success on the pitch has made Madrid's second club an attractive partner and they already have a deal with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei and a shirt sponsorship agreement with the Azerbaijan tourist board.
Like many Spanish clubs, they have struggled to keep their finances under control in recent decades while striving to remain competitive, racking up debts of more than 500 million euros.
With the future looking brighter, however, they have ambitious plans and are looking to move from their crumbling Calderon stadium to a new 70,000-capacity arena at La Peineta near the main airport in a couple of years.
They are also planning to build a new training complex including offices, a 15,000-seater stadium for the second and third teams and facilities and shops for fans.