Todd Boehly has moved one step closer to becoming the new owner of Chelsea after being confirmed as the club’s preferred bidder on Friday.
The American billionaire, who is a co-owner of the LA Dodgers and LA Lakers, has overcome the competition from two rival bids fronted by former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca. His consortium's £3.5billion offer appears to have won the day, although there are still plenty of hurdles left to clear.
One could arrive in the form of Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has submitted a late £4.25bn offer to buy the club from Roman Abramovich. “We put an offer in this morning,” Ratcliffe told The Times on Friday. “We are the only British bid. Our motives are simply to try and create a very fine club in London. We have no profit motive because we make our money in other ways.”
