Roman Abramovich has decided to sell Chelsea, and, reports say, he has set a deadline until March 15 for prospective buyers to present their offers on the table. Groups from the United States of America and Saudi Arabia are said to be interested.
Chelsea are for sale, as much was made clear by owner Roman Abramovich hours ahead of their FA Cup tie against Luton Town. The Russian oligarch is in a race against time to sell the club with the threat of government sanctions looming in the background; as such, a March 15 deadline has been set for prospective buyers to submit their bids to buy the club. However, the negotiations may continue long after the date is passed.
There are several prospective groups interested in buying the club, the most well-known of them, a coalition between Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and American tycoon Todd Boehly. However, as per a report from Goal, a private consortium headed by Saudi Media recently signaled their intent to meet Abramovich’s 3 billion pound valuation.
As per the report, the syndicate registered its interest with the Raine Group, the New York-based bank tasked with finding the right buyer for the club. Furthermore, the Saudi-based group is said to be one of the ten parties with a serious interest in purchasing the West London club from Abramovich, with several others monitoring the situation closely.
Another one, reports The Athletic, is the Ricketts family – the well-known owners of the Major League Baseball team, Chicago Cubs. The family – which has shown interest in purchasing European football clubs in the past, most prominently AC Milan in 2018 – is considering joining a group of investors and coming up with a bid to match the expectations of Abramovich.
Other reports have linked NBA franchise Sacramento Kings’ owner Vivek Ranadive and NFL-based New York Jets owner Woody Johnson with Chelsea.
Abramovich, who bought Chelsea for 140 million pounds from Ken Bates in 2003, is looking for an offer in the region of 3 billion to sell the club.
