Surprise offer for Chelsea

Chelsea could have an unexpected owner. The owner of the petrochemical company Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has launched a last minute offer to buy the Stamford Bridge team with the promise to invest more than 2,000 million euros in the club in the next ten years, in addition to paying 3,000 million euros to seize their assets. As the company itself has confirmed in a statement, The operation would exceed 5,000 million euros and it would be the most important in the history of a sports franchise.

The British billionaire’s offer has dislocated the other three interested in acquiring Chelsea, who are Todd Boehly (owner of the LA Dodgers), Sir Martin Broughton (former president of Liverpool) and Stephen Pagliuca (owner of Atalanta and the Boston Celtics). These three businessmen were the final candidates designated by the Raine Group, the New York bank that has managed the sale process together with the leaders of Chelsea in recent weeks and that had not included the Ineos offer among the finalists.

Nevertheless, Ratcliffe would have negotiated this Thursday with the president of Chelsea, Bruce Buck, his entry into the sale process, which has allowed him to make his offer official this Friday. With this last minute proposal, the owner of Ineos wanted to give a blow and overthrow the three North American consortiums already mentioned.

“This is a British offer for a British club,” the company explained in the statement., where he has detailed what his plans are with Chelsea. A club that has always interested Ratcliffe, who already owns a professional cycling team also known as “Ineos” and a Ligue 1 team, Nice.