Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks to be standing firm on his huge valuation of the club, as reports suggest he rejected a big money offer from the Middle East shortly before the summer.
The Russian-Israeli multi-billionaire has been the club's majority shareholder since 2003, leading the Blues to as many as 17 major honours under his stewardship.
The 53-year-old had been a regular at Stamford Bridge, but he last attended a Chelsea game at the Europa League final in Baku back in May, having been kept out of the UK by ongoing Visa issues.
Such issues are believed to have led to the shelving of the club's plans to redevelop the stadium, and towards the end of last season it was rumoured Abramovich might be thinking about selling the club.
It seems as though it may not be as straightforward as that, however, as a report from the Telegraph notes that a concrete offer was received - and rejected - from a potential new owner in the Middle East at the tail end of the 2018/19 season.
With all the turmoil of a transfer ban surrounding the club, it would have been the ideal time to sell up in many respects, but the undisclosed bid from an as yet unnamed consortium is believed to have fallen short of Abramovich's reported £3bn valuation.
Another bid was in the works earlier this year, from Ineos CEO and Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who eventually decided against pursuing the deal further - citing a chasm between the valuations of both parties, and the ongoing delays with the redevelopment of the club's iconic stadium.
"There was some early exchanges but we were a significant way apart on valuations," he said last month, via the Mirror.
"The issue with Chelsea is its stadium. We are all getting older and it would take a decade of your life to resolve that."
Source : 90min