Atalanta and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca, one of the contenders who hoped to become owner of Chelsea, has criticised the process that decided that Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital won the bid to take control of the Blues. Pagliuca led a group that included North American sport magnate Larry Tanenbaum and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and described the endeavour as "politics at its worst".
Raine Group were in charge of the whittling down process with Chelsea drawing a great deal of interest during the sales process, with the idea of being a steward of the club being heavily promoted as well as a record £4.5billion fee to complete the takeover. Having made the final three groups, Pagliuca thought his bid would be the successful one.
He told the Boston Globe: “I thought we had the strongest group — that was the impression I had and I thought we were going to win it."
