Chelsea could have a new owner in as little as four to six weeks after the club received permission to resume the sale process by the UK government following sanctions on Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich recently confirmed his intention to sell in the wake of Russia’s invasions of Ukraine following a failed attempt to pass control of the club to trustees of the Chelsea Foundation.
The Russian billionaire has since pledged to donate all ‘net proceeds’ of the sale to Ukraine war victims and will not recall the £1.5bn loan he is owed by Chelsea.
Despite immediate interest from various credible potential buyers, UK government sanctions against Abramovich forced the sale process to be paused on Thursday.
Chelsea are currently only operating on a special license as a footballing operation. The club is not allowed to sell tickets in addition to existing season tickets, sell merchandise, engage in the commercial – sponsors have already withdrawn, renew player contracts, or buy and sell players.
On Friday, it was also reported that Barclays had suspended banking operations with Chelsea and that corporate credit cards had been frozen as banks assess what the sanctions mean for them. It reached the point where it wasn’t even possible to fill the team bus with fuel.
There had been fears among supporters that sanctions against Abramovich could even block an attempted sale and leave the club in a crippling state of financial limbo.
But the latest on the subject from The Athletic explains that following talks between the government and US bank Raine, who will be overseeing the sale, the process can now resume as before.
As such, it is said there is confidence that a deal could be agreed at some point within the next four to six weeks – potentially a week before the end of April. However, in line with the sanctions, Abramovich must still prove that he will not personally benefit from selling the club.
British property tycoon Nick Candy, a Chelsea fan, is among the interested buyers.
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But there is additional serious interest from the likes of LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and bid partner Hansjorg Wyss, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Jamie Reuben, Woody Johnson, the Ricketts family and Muhsin Bayrak all credited with rival interest of their own.
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Source : 90min