April 25, (THEWILL) – Chelsea supporters may find out who will be the club’s next owners this week, as American bank, Raine Group, is set to unveil their favourite bidder from a pool of three bidders.
Roman Abramovich had commissioned Raine to handle the selling process before the Russian was sanctioned by the UK government for his ties to Vladimir Putin.
Since then, the European champions have been operating under a special licence that restricts their ability to sell tickets, merchandise, and transfer funds.
During Abramovich’s 19-year reign, Chelsea won 19 major trophies, and they might win another when they face Liverpool in the FA Cup final next month.
The sanctions’ impact is beginning to show, as evidenced by rows of empty seats in the home end for Arsenal’s 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The club also will not be able to offer new contracts to defenders, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who are expected to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. Thomas Tuchel has already confirmed Rudiger’s decision.
By the end of the campaign, it is hoped that new owners would have taken over.
None of the three bids is expected to have any difficulties passing the English Premier League’s owners and directors criteria or obtaining UK government permission.
Chelsea’s success has been fueled by Abramovich’s soft loans totaling £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion), but he will neither claim that money back or receive cash from the sale while he is sanctioned.
Despite the losses and the need for a costly stadium refurbishment to match their standing as one of Europe’s premier teams, the sale is expected to fetch a world-record £2.5 billion for a sports club.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
