What had started off as a packed field has now been whittled down to the final three as the runners and riders vying to complete a takeover of Chelsea edge closer to the finishing line.
Ever since Russia's military invasion of Ukraine sparked international outrage and led to countries imposing sanctions on Russian businesses and oligarchs, Chelsea have been in disarray off the field after their long time owner Roman Abramovich had his hand forced and had to give up the club that he arrived at back in 2003, a club where he changed the course of the Premier League and its relationship with the transfer market.
Chelsea were willing spenders on wages and transfer fees, and while Abramovich's tenure at the club that spanned almost two decades delivered two Champions League titles, five Premier League titles and five FA Cup triumphs there is little doubt that without the willingness of Abramovich to underwrite the losses to the tune of £1.5bn then the playing field would have altered somewhat. Abramovich, whose historic close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin made him a target for sanctions from UK Government, has agreed to write off those debts, but with football having had to ask itself some difficult questions around where the money comes from and how it can be impacted by geo-political factors at play at any given time, finding another Abramovich is not as easy as it was.
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It is the UK Government who are overseeing the sale of Chelsea and a field that had included figures such as New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and British property tycoon Nick Candy has been whittled down to the final three; a consortium led by former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, a group led by Los Angeles Dodgers shareholder Todd Boehly, and a group that consists of Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts Family, who have been joined in their efforts by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and US hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.
Whoever wins the keys to Stamford Bridge will be heavily US led, coming into it with an American viewpoint on sport, and with plenty of demonstrable experience in running major sports teams. They will also all be well know to Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, with Broughton having aided FSG's arrival and served as chairman for several months in 2010 at the transition point from the ownership of George Gillett and Tom Hicks to the ownership of John Henry and Tom Werner's FSG.
Broughton's consortium includes Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, US billionaires and shareholders in Crystal Palace who, through their Harris Blitzer Entertainment company have a majority shareholding in the New Jersey Devils NHL team, as well as minority stakes in other European teams as well as a shareholding in the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team. Broughton and FSG are well versed with each other, while Harris and Blitzer are in the same space when it comes to sports investment as FSG, both owning NHL teams in their portfolio, although FSG is quite the behemoth in comparison, with a total empire value of around $10bn.
Then there is the Ricketts/Gilbert/Griffin bid. FSG, through their ownership of the Boston Red Sox since 2002, have been competing with the Ricketts family's Chicago Cubs baseball franchise for two decades, and Boston have outperformed the Cubs both on and off the field. But the addition of the billions that Gilbert and Griffin would bring means that the financial muscle would lie with Chelsea, although with Gilbert, founder of US firm Quicken Loans and a keen investor, and Griffin, who has earned billions as a hedge fund manager, they would not be coming on board to underwrite big losses.
The same goes for Boehly's bid. Boehly, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and Jonathan Goldstein have backing from Clearlake Capital, an investment firm that has some $60m worth of assets under management. While there would be a commitment to investment in infrastructure and development, as is the case across the bids, this is also very much a business move, not a very expensive hobby that Abramovich treated it as, a hobby where he was more than willing to lose money.
And this is where the step change for Chelsea will come in, one that will likely see them try and ape what FSG have done at Liverpool. The issue that these consortiums, cobbled together through their wealth and desire to take advantage of a rare opportunity to acquire a major global sporting team for what is seen as a bargain £2bn investment given the strength of the Premier League's global reach and its trajectory as a business, is that a culture change will be needed.
Buying smarter and finding a strategic business plan that underpins success is something that FSG introduced at Liverpool 12 years ago, and it is something that has served them well. While keeping pace with the spending of the Abramovich-owned Chelsea and Manchester City, backed by the Emirati wealth of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been a challenge, the approach to strategy, investment in people and into infrastructure has enabled the Reds to push well past Manchester United and Arsenal, two clubs with wealthy American owners but with a complete lack of strategic thinking when it comes to creating a successful football team.
Boehly has been said to be data driven, a fan of an analytical approach. That is something that has been part of Liverpool's DNA for more than a decade and something that has seen plenty of investment in terms of both time and money. The Reds also have been tweaking and honing that for a long time, and data analytics was something Henry was on to when Billy Beane was pioneering it in baseball at the Oakland Athletics 20 years ago.
FSG will know all the players involved in the Chelsea takeover talks, and they will know all about FSG and how they have approached their time in sports team ownership. They will undoubtedly be looking to mirror some of what has been done already in a bid to reclaim the ground that Liverpool have made on them, pushing Chelsea beneath them in the race to be the kings of English football.
The level of spending will likely be more restrained that it was under Abramovich whoever comes in. The bottom line will mean more and there will be a return that is sought on these investment, likely through the continued growth in value of top Premier League clubs as businesses. But they will also be adept at bringing on board new investment opportunities through the varied business portfolios that they run, which may well mean that Chelsea's revenues rise considerably and are able to better prop up sustainable spending.
For FSG, however, they do have the upper hand. They are 12 years into this now. They know how the Premier League works, they know what the strategy is and they have the appropriate structure and people in the building to deliver that, whether that is Ian Graham, Michael Edwards or Jurgen Klopp. They are also pulling in the same direction and haven't been hastily thrown together at the last minute to try and impress those who will make the final call on who takes over. FSG have brought on board private investment, but that has been through RedBird Capital acquiring an 11 per cent, while Arctos Partners also have a small holding as an FSG partner. RedBird and Arctos are to market leaders when it comes to private equity in sport, and the simpatico relationships that have been forged with LeBron James, an FSG partner and his long-time business partner Maverick Carter through the FSG/RedBird/Nike investment into SpringHill Entertainment, as well as strong relationships with one of the world's most progressive brands in Nike, means that Liverpool remain well positioned.
FSG have made mistakes at Liverpool, some pretty big ones, but as they move into a new phase as a business, and with new minds on board to aid innovation, they remain, arguably, the best positioned to deliver sustained and sustainable success. The ownership of Manchester City and the recent controversial takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund does mean that open wallet policies remain, but football will soon find itself pushing for a way to marry success on and off the pitch, and there will be a lot of US money driving that forward. Liverpool's advantage is that they have been round the block a few times by now and have the blueprint, they just need to make sure they remain the vanguard.
