Former Arsenal player and pundit Paul Merson has claimed that the time the Chelsea takeover is taking is “worrying” and fears the club will be left behind by its Premier League rivals. It comes amid a complicated saga surrounding the ownership of the Blues.
It started in March, when owner Roman Abramovich announced his intentions to sell, just before he was sanctioned by the UK Government in wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This left the short-term and long-term future of the club uncertain, with the government giving them a sporting licence to continue to operate.
Raine Bank was left in charge of the process, eventually picking out a consortium led by Todd Boehly as the preferred bidder. While there are fears that Abramovich could renege his promise to wipe off the £1.6billion loan he gave the club, Boehly now has a period of exclusivity to proceed with the deal.
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However, with the sporting licence expiring at the end of the month, time is ticking on getting a takeover sorted. And with that in mind, former Arsenal man Merson has claimed he is worried for Chelsea’s future.
Speaking in his Sky Sports column, he said: “They've [Chelsea] got to sell the club before they do anything else. Until they sell the club, they can't bring anyone in. If you went and bought a house for £300,000 tomorrow it would take three months, now we're talking about £4bn. It's not going to be done quickly - it's worrying really.
“It needs to be done before the end of the season or they're in danger of getting left behind. They've got to bring players in, they're behind Man City and Liverpool, we've seen that. They'll want to bring players in and offload players.”
With Thomas Tuchel ’s men 17 points off the pace of the top of the Premier League, as well as key players leaving, there is a lot of work to be done this summer. However, the fluidity of the takeover means the future is uncertain.
