Todd Boehly has won the race to buy Chelsea, according to reports.
The Telegraph claim that his consortium's £3.5billion offer has resulted in him being selected as the preferred bidder to succeed Roman Abramovich, despite Sir Jim Ratcliffe lodging an extravagant late bid. Britain's richest man had offered £4.25billon to buy the Blues, although Boehly looks to have won the race which has lasted almost two months.
While there has been no official confirmation from the Boehly's consortium, Chelsea or the Raine banking group who are overseeing the sale, the America is now expected to be confirmed as the Blues' buyer. The news comes after Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton, two rivals bidders, were told that they would not advance in the process.
The consortium led by Boehly, who has a background in sports ownership with his stake in the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Dodgers, had been considered favourites from the outset. Business partner Hansjorg Wyss even went public about a potential takeover bid 24 hours before Abramovich had confirmed his intention to sell the club.
The consortium subsequently added several experienced advisory figures, including Conservative party peer Daniel Finkelstein and former chancellor George Osborne. Boehly has attended two games at Stamford Bridge over the past month; the Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid and Premier League defeat at the hands of London rivals Arsenal.
It is hoped that the takeover process will be completed before the end of the season, although previous deadlines have been pushed back due to the complexities involved, such as the British government's role in the deal after sanctioning Abramovich for his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich, who purchased the Blues in 2003 for £140million and super-charged them to the top of world football, will not receive any money from the deal which expected to total a record-breaking £3bn.
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Boehly and co still need to agree the final details with the club's current board and go through the Premier League's owners' and directors' test, a process that top-flight chief executive Richard Masters previously revealed could take 10 days. The Premier League has already being carrying out preliminary checks.
Chelsea had recently been warned by UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries that they were on "borrowed time" to finalise the takeover. Dorries told BBC Newcast on Thursday: "Chelsea is being sold, as you know, and the sanctions apply, so those sanctions still apply during the sale.
"But what I will say actually, is that Chelsea is very much on borrowed time at the moment. There is a very short window left fort that sale to take place. It has to happen soon."
