With less than a week until final bids for Chelsea must be submitted, the Ricketts family were once again in London this week for further talks regarding their bid - but they did not hang around for long after.
Tom and Laura Ricketts met the Chelsea hierarchy on Tuesday as they look to persuade the decisive members that their bid is better than those of Todd Boehly's consortium, Steve Pagliuca or Sir Martin Broughton's consortium. All four parties made it through the first round of bidding and must now submit their final offers by April 11.
Some Chelsea fans have been passionately critical of the Ricketts family after islamaphobic comments from Joe Ricketts came to light in which he branded Muslims "his enemy" in leaked emails. Despite Joe not being involved in the bid, it sparked protests by supporters who felt the comments should rule them out of the running.
But they continue to push ahead with their attempt to buy the club from Roman Abramovich, nevertheless. But, as per The Athletic, Tom and Laura Ricketts were not eager to hang around for long after their latest round of talks, instead jetting off straight away in order to make the opening game of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball season, the team they have owned since 2009.
It sparked criticism from some fans on social media, who felt that if the group were committed to the purchase, they surely would have stayed an extra day to take in the Blues clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League.
@Lawal_Tijani said: "Imagine coming here to do a meet and greet and not staying for the massive Champions League quarterfinal game the next day. Showing real commitment to the cause here."
@TheChelskiKid said: "Not staying the extra day? Red flag to me."
@TheGreatKen said: "They left before a Champions League quarter-final game, to go for an opening game???"
Abramovich has had to accelerate his attempts to sell the club he has owned for 19 years after being sanctioned by the UK government for alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin. While the Oligarch remains in charge, Chelsea have been unable to negotiate contracts or transfer fees, potentially leaving them a step behind ahead of the summer.
