Top 6 Contenders To Buy Chelsea As Bidding Ends On Friday Finally Revealed
According to Goal’s Nizaar Kinsella, Raine Group have received at least 27 bids from interested parties to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
Of course, some of those bids have more chances to succeed than others.
Here, we are trying to break down the key contenders, as named by The Guardian.
1. Boehly-Wyss-Goldstein Consortium
One of the members of this team, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, was the first to reveal that Chelsea were actively looking for new owners. This consortium was an early contender as they have had time to prepare their offer between £2bn and £2.5bn.
They’ve just enlisted the help of two high-profile Chelsea fans, Member of the House of Lords Daniel Finkelstein, and Barbara Charone who is one of the most powerful music PR officers in the world. This might have been done to offset the fact that Jonathan Goldstein is a life-long Tottenham fan.
The key man in this team, however, is Todd Boehly, the American tycoon who owns a 20% stake in baseball franchise Los Angeles Dodgers, among other assets. He already tried to buy Chelsea back in 2019 but back then, Roman Abramovich never thought of selling up.
2. Ricketts Family and Ken Griffin
This group is similar to the previous one in that it has baseball franchise owners who tried to buy Chelsea in the past.
The Ricketts family who owns the Chicago Cubs have also made their interest public. They have teamed up with American hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin, who is valued at over £20bn.
They have announced they are going to submit an official bid on Friday. Still, there is already quite a lot of bad publicity around them, with Joe Ricketts’ Islamophobic emails emerging.
Broughton-Coe Team
Sir Martin Broughton is a former British Airways chairman who had a short spell in the same role at Liverpool when he brokered a deal to sell the club to Fenway Sports Group, the current Liverpool owners.
Broughton, however, is a lifelong Chelsea fan, as is Lord Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic Games winner in track and field. He has confirmed that he joined Broughton’s consortium and is expected to take a seat on the club board if the bid succeeds.
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Woody Johnson
The NY Jets owner and the former US ambassador to the UK is also yet to submit an official bid.
The 74-year-old is told to have developed an affection for the game during his time in the UK.
The problem, however, is that his NFL side has not made the playoffs in 11 years, the longest drought in the league right now.
Nick Candy
A passionate Chelsea fan, Candy has been seeking to team up with other investors as he would struggle to put up a sufficient bid by himself.
Still, sources told The Guardian that he has been approached by some investors and has the funds necessary.
Candy’s plans include putting a fan on the club board and extensive redevelopment of Stamford Bridge. He also has the support of Gianluca Vialli’s advisory firm Tifosy.
Saudia Media
Finally, the group that is claimed to have no direct links to the Saudi government is headed by another Chelsea supporter Mohamed Alkhereiji.
It has been claimed that they have made a £2.7billion offer which could be the largest. No wonder the UK sports minister has claimed this week that they ‘welcome Saudi Arabian investment.’
