The
Ricketts family have made it onto the shortlist alongside the bids submitted
by Sir Martin Broughton and Todd Boehly in the auction to buy Chelsea.
Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts family, LA Dodgers part-owner Boehly, and
former Liverpool chairman Broughton now lead the race to take charge at
Stamford Bridge.
As first reported by Sky News on Thursday, Boston Celtics and Atalanta
co-owner Stephen Pagliuca has also made a bid and is expected to be on the
shortlist.
Chelsea fan Nick Candy has not given up hope of playing a part in Chelsea's
future. Candy's spokesperson said on Friday: "We continue to evaluate and
participate in meaningful conversations in the bidding process. Nick has
always made it clear that the fans and safeguarding the future of the club
are his only interests in this process."
Bids which make it onto the shortlist will be given access to Chelsea's data
room. They will be given a password which will allow them to look at all
Chelsea's financial data - including player contracts.
They will also have the opportunity to visit the club and meet key personnel
such as manager Thomas Tuchel, chairman Bruce Buck and chief executive Guy
Laurence.
The Chelsea Supporters' Trust earlier issued a statement voicing its
concerns about the ability of the Ricketts family to run an "inclusive,
successful club".
"If they are unable to address these and gain confidence of supporters, we
do not believe it would be in the best interests of our members for the bid
to succeed," the Trust wrote on social media.
Tom Ricketts, who is leading his family's bid, issued a statement in
response, thanking fans and supporters for meeting them and saying "it is
now up to us to redouble our efforts and clearly lay out a vision for our
stewardship of the club with diversity and inclusion at its heart".
Raine spent Thursday informing a host of unsuccessful bidders they were out
of the auction before starting the process of confirming the shortlist in
the race to buy the Blues.
The New York bank will dig into further details of remaining submissions
once the shortlist is rubber-stamped.
US magnate Boehly and his Eldridge Industries firm has backing from Swiss
billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and respected British business leader Jonathan
Goldstein.
Former British Airways chairman Broughton has drafted in sports business and
politics heavyweight Lord Sebastian Coe, adding genuine clout to his
consortium.
Wall Street investment banker Michael Klein has added a major financial
edge, with a number of other backers also involved.
The Cubs-owning Ricketts family boasts the financial muscle of US hedge fund
supremo Ken Griffin, believing their experience of renovating storied
stadium Wrigley Field offers an edge in their candidacy given Stamford
Bridge's required rebuild.
Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, amid Russia's continued
invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian-Israeli billionaire was then sanctioned by the Government on
March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven his links to Vladimir
Putin.
The Blues must operate under strict Government licence, with Abramovich
unable to profit from Chelsea's sale.
Downing Street must approve another new licence to authorise Chelsea's
eventual sale, with the money either frozen or distributed to charitable
funds to aid victims of the war in Ukraine.
Abramovich has pledged to write off Chelsea's £1.5billion debt and the
bidding frenzy for the club could see the eventual sale price hit £3billion.
Chelsea Q&A: Will takeover saga affect club's
summer plans?
Analysis by Sky Sports News Chief Reporter Kaveh Solhekol
Definitely. Is Marina Granovskaia going to be there? She's the one
overseeing all the transfer business. She's the one who's in charge of
negotiating all the contracts - I'm not sure she's going to stay. This is
the kind of time of year where Chelsea would be working hard behind the
scenes before the window opens, working out who they're going to try and
sell, who was going to leave. All of those plans have been put on hold for
the time being.
The only thing I would say is that Chelsea have such a fantastic squad
anyway, but obviously you would have expected them to have done some
business this summer. Everything has just been put on hold. A few months ago
we were talking about the fact that they were in for Erling Haaland. It's
just not happening at the moment and I can't really see any of these
consortiums coming in quickly, sorting things out, taking over, backing
Thomas Tuchel and saying, 'here you go, here's another £100m to buy another
striker
They're not allowed to do any transfer business at the moment. They're not
allowed to offer contracts. They're not allowed to be talking to players
about contracts or offering new contracts. From an agent's point of view, an
agent is paid to look after his player. I'm not sure any agents at the
moment would be saying to their clients, as far as Chelsea are concerned,
wait and see. It's not a stable situation. Until we've got some more
information about what the future is going to look like it's difficult to
come out and say, 'I want to stay at Chelsea' or 'I want to sign for
Chelsea'. From Chelsea's point of view the situation needs to be sorted out
as soon as possible.
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