Woody Johnson has confirmed his bid for Chelsea Football Club was rejected as the Blues continue their search for a new owner. It's understood that there are now four shortlisted groups who will have to submit final offers before the April 11 deadline.
It was reported earlier in the month that Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, was interested in the purchase of Chelsea. This is all following Roman Abramovich's decision to sell the club, just before the Russian businessman was sanctioned by the UK government.
The four groups who are in contention to take over at Stamford Bridge are led by Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton, the Ricketts family and Stephen Pagliuca. With this news, Johnson has now released a statement regarding his failed bid, reported to be $2.6billion (£1.9bn) by the New York Post.
READ MORE: Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich suffers alleged 'poisoning' during Ukraine peace talks
"My interest in Chelsea is I'm a fan of Chelsea," Johnson said in a statement. "When I was over there, I couldn't be a fan of a particular team. I had to be diplomatic.
"I had to like all the teams, but we are Chelsea fans. It's London's team. The concept of New York and London, I thought was one that we could do pretty well with that. I thought it would be another interesting endeavour for us."
He added: "Not getting Chelsea [is] disappointing, but the numbers have gotten so enormous that on one hand I'm disappointed and on the other hand, financially, I think it is going to be a huge challenge."
Another Chelsea supporter, Nick Candy, is also understood to have seen his offer for the club turned down. Once all of the bids from interested parties are reviewed again after April 11, they will then be referred to the Premier League for their Owners' and Directors' Test.
