Roman Abramovich and the Raine Groups' decision to snub Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton was down to Stadium and funding issues on each bidder's behalf as Todd Boehly and Jim Ratcliffe now battle it to be the new kings of west London.
From four to only two as Friday proved to be a big day in the ever-changing Chelsea takeover race. First off, you had the news that the richest man in Britain Jim Ratcliffe had made an eleventh-hour £4billion bid to purchase the club. Then came the news that Stephen Pagliuca's and Sir Martin Broughton's offers had been declined. Now, with Boehly in the driving seat, Ratcliffe is very much the underdog as we approach the climax of this ultimate saga which is set to come to an end, with Nadine Dorries admitting that the Blues were on 'borrowed time.'
Time which is now being used effectively to close the negotiations for the new ownership structure, whether it will be Boehly's consortium or Ratcliffe on his own remains to be seen. But with Broughton and Pagliuca now out of the race for good, there is a better understanding as to why their bids had failed in the eyes of Abramovich and Pagliuca.
