According to ESPN, Chelsea have received a fresh offer from Aethel Partners to takeover after Mr. Abramovich’s departure as owner. The offer is £2 billion ($2.63billion) which does check Chelsea’s requirement of $2.1billion. Moreover, the club will also receive £50 million ($65.8million) immediately to avoid getting insolvent since the Blues are operating under heavy restrictions by the UK government.
The United Kingdom Government has sanctioned Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich. This has forced the Russian billionaire to consider selling his club for the first time since he took over. He was sanctioned for having connections with Vladimir Putin. The Russian President’s decision to invade Ukraine has caused chaos within the Chelsea club too.
Chelsea are now filtering their options to chose their owner as soon as possible. Sources report that there are 15 to 30 offers for the club to consider. The Ricketts family who are also owners of the Chicago Cubs are one of the bidders. Whereas Todd Boehly who is the co-owner of the LA Lakers has made offers for the team. Moreover, Los Angeles Dodgers have also bid with their consortium.
Furthermore, Woody Johnson, a Saudi Media group, and Nick Candy have also expressed their interests in acquiring the club. However, the UK government will have to give Chelsea the license to sell the club. The Department of Media, Culture, and Sport that the license will possibly be granted if Chelsea finds a suitable bidder.
What Chelsea needs to prioritise before considering Aethel Partners as their owners?
Aethel Partners are offering $2.63billion which may not be suitable for Chelsea but it does not fulfill Abramovich’s valuation of $3.95billion. Chelsea currently have better bidders than Aethel Partners who are close to the valuation but none of them actually match the price. The Blues might get a better valuation from a few other offers.
However, the club will receive $65.8million immediately for avoiding insolvency. Whether the other bidders offer immediate money is yet to be known. This could be useful for Chelsea to avoid serious trouble very soon. If Chelsea does consider other offers than Aethel Partners, the Blues could use some immediate money and might have to ask for it from their bidders.
The most important thing is to see whether their probable owners would support them in the future as well as Abramovich did in the past. Chelsea have to see whether owners carry a genuine interest in the sport or are they just bidding to enjoy the business side of the sport. If Chelsea fails to do this, they might suffer in the long term as many other big clubs have.
Chelsea could get better offers than Aethel Partners and could wait for some time before finalizing. Some serious interest from other club owners and celebrities with better valuation could be useful. Chelsea is a very big club and will undoubtedly attract buyers but the club has a huge task on their heads to find new owners and also manage players’ contracts.
Follow us on Twitter for regular football updates.
