Sir Jim Ratcliffe has addressed the elephant in the room amid his plans to buy Chelsea Football Club. The INEOS owner, who is a Manchester United fan, made a late £4billion bid to buy the Blues on Friday.
Though on Wednesday, his proposal was ruled out by Raine Group, who are handling the west London club's sale, according to Tom Crotty, a director at INEOS. The US banking firm have been in charge of the takeover process since owner Roman Abramovich decided to sell the club in March, having been sanctioned by the UK government in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Given the due diligence the rest of the candidates have undergone throughout the process, Ratcliffe's £4.25bn bid threw a cat among the pigeons after submission in the 11th-hour. A consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly is understood to be the preferred bidder for Chelsea, though the British billionaire has made a last ditch effort to buy the club.
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While Ratcliffe's ploy to buy Chelsea from Abramovich appears competitive, doubt has been casted over his suitability as the club's next owner seeing as he's a United fan. But, after speaking for the first time since his bid on Friday, the 69-year-old told the BBC that he has a split allegiance between the Premier League rivals.
When asked to confirm whether he is a United fan or not, Ratcliffe, who is a Chelsea season ticket holder, said: "I have a split allegiance really. When I was in London for many, many years, Chelsea I could go and watch - it was quite difficult to go and watch United."
Ratcliffe was then quizzed on why he isn't looking to buy the 'club he grew up supporting'. He replied: "Yes, I mean I can understand that but Manchester United is not for sale."
Earlier last week, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries warned Chelsea that they must speed up the takeover process, saying that they were on borrowed time. Speaking on the BBC's Newscast podcast, she said: "Chelsea is very much on borrowed time at the moment. There is a very short window left for that sale to take place. It has to happen soon."
But, since the aforementioned warning, fears have arisen that Abramovich will break his promise to write off a £1.6 billion debt, according to the Times. A report last week claimed that the west Londoners told the UK Government - as well as bidding groups - that they want to 'restructure' the handover process, throwing a blanket of doubt over proceedings.
The reform would reportedly include 'paying off debt' from Chelsea’s parent company Fordstam to a Jersey-based company called Camberley International Investments, which seems to be linked to the Russian billionaire.
