Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe retains hope of buying Chelsea Football Club despite being informed by the bank in charge of the sale that he is not being considered.
The founder of petrochemicals giant INEOS confirmed an offer on Friday afternoon, two hours before it emerged that the consortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly was entering exclusive talks to take over from sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Ratcliffe has since been told by Raine Group that his offer was "rejected out of hand," according to INEOS director Tom Crotty, but he is pushing on with his plans and believes that he can be in place to step in should there be a hitch to the Boehly bid, which has been given until Friday to strike a deal.
