It feels as if the saga surrounding Chelsea's takeover race has been rumbling on for years now, but finally it appears to be drawing to a close. There was one last bump in the road along the way, however, after reports emerged that doubts surrounding the debts owed to Roman Abramovich could derail the sale.
A consortium led by billionaire Todd Boehly had an offer accepted to buy the club from Abramovich, ending the Russian's 19-year spell as owner. He leaves amid a cloud of sanctions, imposed on him by the UK government due to alleged links to Vladimir Putin, something Abramovich has always denied.
But the sanctions placed on him left the club unable to operate as normal. All transfer and contract negotiations had to be put on hold while they were also unable to sell home tickets for Premier League matches. Boehly's takeover will finally put an end to those restrictions and after Abramovich struck a deal with the UK government this week, everything appears to be back on track. The priority can soon turn to building towards a busy summer transfer window.
