Roma is in talks with a group led by U.S. billionaire Dan Friedkin looking to buy the Italian Serie A club, it said on Monday.

Europe's top football giants have attracted big money from some of the world's richest investors over the past decade as the game draws more fans and television revenue in lucrative markets such as Asia, the United States and the Middle East.

The proposed deal is the latest football foray by a U.S. investor after Manchester City's Abu Dhabi-controlled owner in November sold a 500-million-U.S.-dollar stake in the English club to U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake.

In June American billionaire Rocco Commisso bought Serie A club ACF Fiorentina from Italy's Della Valle family for a reported sum of about 179 million U.S. dollars.

Press reports said Friedkin would pay between 840 to 884 million U.S. dollars, including debt, for an 82-percent stake in Roma.

The club made a loss of 26.8 million U.S. dollars on revenue of 261 million U.S. dollars in the financial year to June 30. Net debt amounted to 247 million U.S. dollars.

Shares in Roma shot up more than nine percent at the open in Milan on Monday but pared gains to stand 4.4 percent up at 1226 GMT.

"Any deal with Group Friedkin is subject to the positive outcome of the legal due diligence process on the Roma group," the club said in a statement.

Roma last changed hands in 2012 when it was taken over by a group of U.S. investors led by James Pallotta, who became the club's president.

Pallotta, a U.S. businessman of Italian descent, failed to revive the fortunes of the club, which won the last of its three Serie A titles in 2001.

Roma idol Francesco Totti, a former captain of the club who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, left as technical director in June, complaining he had never been given a proper role during his two years on the management team and had been excluded from key decisions.

He said he would be ready to return to the club if Pallotta left.

Having missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification after finishing sixth in Serie A last season, when Juventus won their eighth consecutive title, Roma are in the second-tier Europa League. They have reached the knockout stages and next play Belgian side KAA Gent for a place in the last 16.