Former Premier League owner Simon Jordan has labelled prospective Chelsea owner Jim Ratcliffe a 'disruptor' amid Todd Boehly's progress to buy the club outright with his consortium at Roman Abramovich's asking price.
It all seemed as though it was smooth sailing for the three consortiums that were shortlisted for the final round of talks but the current Nice owner aimed to throw the biggest curveball with his enticing and attractive £4billion plus offer that trumped his competitors. In a statement released, INEOS have announced their plans to invest in the Blues to ensure a 'first-class squad' for both the men's and women's teams, as well as continued investment in the club's Cobham academy. The future of Stamford Bridge has been among the high-profile components of all bids thus far, with INEOS planning to make it a 'world-class' stadium by renovating Chelsea's home as an ongoing project so that the team are not required to relocate elsewhere.
Their statement read: "Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25bn. £2.5bn is committed to the charitable trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75bn committed to invest directly into the club over the next 10 years. This is a British bid, for a British club. We believe that a club is bigger than its owners, who are temporary custodians of a great tradition, With a responsibility to the fans and the community. That is why we are committing to spending £1.75bn over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club. We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC. This will be organic and ongoing so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.
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"We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first-class squad of the world's greatest players, coaches and support staff, in the men's and women's games. And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide the opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first-class players. We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city. One that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club. We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game – not as a means to turn a profit. We do that with our core business. The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason. No further comment will be made from Sir Jim or INEOS during the bidding process."
Roman Abramovich and certain Chelsea chiefs like Bruce Buck coupled with the government were set to give some thinking time to the last minute bid from Ratcliffe which had surpassed the Raine Group entirely but Boehly given the exclusivity to close the deal by May 31 means this race is really in the final stretch. It would be a shock at this point if the current Nice owner was to be successful in his bid and the ex-Crystal Palace owner has gone against the grain of Chelsea fans on social media to play down Ratcliffe's credentials as a potential successor to Abramovich with his scathing assessment of the richest man in Britain.
"No idea… being a disruptor?" he analysed on talkSPORT regarding Ratcliffe's late attempt to hijack the whole process. "His bid is the lowest bid. He hasn’t bid what the other guys have bid (£3 billion) and he has bid the £2.5billion. Jim Ratcliffe, whenever he gets involved in sport it is not always the greatest success."
He then added on the rival bid: "You also have the Todd Boehly bid, the make-up of that and who is behind it. There are some very interesting people, not necessarily financially well-heeled, but people who are intellectually well-heeled like Danny Finkelstein. It’s going to be Todd Boehly and his gang."
So Chelsea fans, do you agree with Simon Jordan's view that Jim Ratcliffe only made his bid at the eleventh hour to disrupt the process or do you believe he genuinely has the best interests of Chelsea at heart? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!
