Quinta do Lago, the luxury 2,000 acre Portuguese golf and tourism resort owned by Denis O’Brien is on the market according to informed sources in the Algarve, who also indicate that a sale may be close to a consortium from the US.

Mr O’Brien bought the resort in the late 1990s for a reported €31m and was resident there for a number of years.

Close to €30m has been invested in the resort over the past five years, specifically on its third championship golf course, the North Course.

Over the past twenty years many celebrities such as footballers, Christiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard have acquired holiday homes at Quinta do Lago, where sites alone have been sold for prices ranging from €2m to €6m.

A spokesman for Denis O’Brien, who owns a majority stake in Newstalk, declined to comment on the reports.