Todd Boehly group secures Chelsea deal while Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid proven to be late
According to The Telegraph (Subscription Required), the Todd Boehly group has been decided as the preferred buyer for the Chelsea football club despite Jim Ratcliffe’s lucrative late bid. The American billionaire’s world-record deal measures up to £3.5billion, the proceeds of which are to go to people affected by the war on Ukraine.
After several sanctions from the UK government were imposed on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, he decided to put the club on sale at the start of March. Since then, many bidders have gone through a gruelling process overseen by the Raine firm.
It was believed that apart from the Todd Boehly group, the groups fronted by Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton were in the race until Friday. Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe made a late attempt to secure the deal by tabling an 11th-hour offer up to £4.25bn on Friday morning.
Even though any party hasn’t officially announced the results, it is claimed that the Todd Boehly group has won the race and very soon, their name will be announced as the preferred buyer.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid sparked speculation in the other bidders’ minds as they feared whether Chelsea and Raine would allow such a late bid after going through a structured process for several weeks. But in the end, they chose Todd Boehly as Ratcliffe’s proposal came too late to be considered.
How does the news affect Chelsea?
After the sanctions were imposed on Chelsea, a lot of confusion and speculation emerged on the future of the people working at the club. Even though the process was happening behind the scene, players like Mason Mount even claimed that the ownership transfer had affected them.
Now it seems the process is nearing the end, and very soon, the Raine Group and Chelsea could announce their new owner. There are still some checks that would need to be completed before the sale is officially finalised but this would news would be a relief for the players, coaches and fans who went through a tense period of uncertainty in the previous two months.
Roman Abramovich made the Blues a successful team in the transfer market. The Russian Billionaire won the off-field battles in the market more often than not and ensured the team got everything it needed to succeed in a football game.
He raised the bar so high that it could seem challenging to achieve for new owners. The Todd Boehly consortium certainly has the fireworks to help Chelsea gain their dominance in Europe. Now it remains to be seen how they make Chelsea a better team.
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Speaking in a presser as quoted by the Daily Mail and covered by ASBTF, Tuchel has already sent a message to the prospective Blues owners, suggesting that investment be made in the Academy as well. So, there are clearly some big expectations from the owners to not just invest in the transfer market, but in other areas of the club as well.
Buying Chelsea isn’t just supposed to be a shiny pin on the hat for the uber-rich owners, but an understanding between them and the fans where the team benefits hugely from the takeover and the owners, in turn, benefit from the investments they put in.
