Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel makes three specific demands to whomever does become the Blues' new owners as the German has weighed in again on the takeover race ahead of the deadline at the end of April.
With each party now preparing their respective pitches to Raine and senior figures at Chelsea, the race to become Roman Abramovich's successor is now well and truly on with the four groups now primed to make their pitches with the end of April the decisive time. The Ricketts Family, struggling against a social media backlash, have already outlined their eight point plan for the club going forward with more details on the Stamford Bridge redevelopment surfacing on Tuesday.
Atalanta owner Steve Pagliuca, like his competitors who have all reached out for more external funding, has reportedly spoken to former Walt Disney chief Bob Iger about further backing as he makes his big move. Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton have been among the quietest of the quartet of interested parties, but this doesn't take away from their genuine interest to purchase the club. Boehly is said to want to oversee a Liverpool-style revolution which has been viewed as an attractive proposal for many of the Chelsea faithful.
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Whilst Tuchel has previously admitted no preference as to who is given the keys to the club despite his warning delivered to the Ricketts on the eve of the scheduled Brentford protest, he has outlined three key things any new stewards would need to do in order to get him on side. He said ahead of Real Madrid on Tuesday afternoon: "A strong squad, confidence and support."
Whether or not each party has those three things on top of their different priority lists remains to be seen, but the likes of Gary Neville have already warned Tuchel against the controversial Ricketts bid that has drawn so much interaction on social media in recent times with the #NoToRicketts campaign. "I have to say, if I was the Ricketts family and I was getting that type of hostility on the way in... move away, move away," he said on the latest Sky Sports podcast.
"The fans are important. If you're the government, I don't know if it's the government who are in charge of the bid, or Bruce Buck, or the organisation appointed by Roman Abramovich - but I would say that we have to make sure that the biggest clubs in the country, we've seen here with the Glazer family, Mike Ashley at Newcastle, it drains the life. Not just out of the club, but out of the city and everyone watching. That cannot happen at football clubs. It's not just about best bids, it's about what the fans want. The Ricketts family are trying to reach out to Chelsea fans, but they do have some historic issues that need dealing with and explaining. At this moment in time, they are not being explained very well.
"In this current light, with what's happened with the Super League, Big Picture, Derby, Bury, what's happened with all of these issues with Roman Abramovich and the links to Putin [something Abramovich has always denied], we have to start bringing back some sort of moral compass in determining who owns a football club."
