After long and tedious negotiations with several potential buyers of Chelsea football club, the London side finally found a new owner in American billionaire Todd Boehly. The club approved Boehly's GBP4.2billion proposal deal to acquire the club from Roman Abramovich's sale.
Boehly's consortium was named as the preferred bidder to run Stamford Bridge by the Raine Group (an American bank who are overseeing the sale). He is partnered with fellow Dodgers owner Mark Walter, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and investment firm Clearlake Capital.
Chelsea confirmed on their official website in the early hours of Saturday morning that Boehly and his consortium can purchase the club, following the UK Government's approval.
The statement read: 'Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the Club.
'Of the total investment being made, GBP2.5bn will be applied to purchase the shares in the Club and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention to donate 100 per cent to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich. UK Government approval will be required for the proceeds to be transferred from the frozen UK bank account.
'In addition, the proposed new owners will commit GBP1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation.
'The sale is expected to be complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time.'
Over the past few months, Chelsea's future was put on a brink of collapse after the Government sanctioned former owner Roman Abramovich in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But now the takeover is set to end with Abramovich completing the sale to Boehly following a sign-off from the Government and the Premier League. However, fears grew this week regarding Abramovich, who was selling his shares after being sanctioned over his links to Vladamir Putin, could go back on his promise to write off a GBP1.6bn loan and leave the Blues in the mud.
By doing so it would've thrown a major spanner in the works for any potential takeover, as UK ministers approving the sale wanted none of the proceeds to go towards the Russian. Instead, they were keen for the money to help rebuild Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
Following Todd Boehly's takeover, he intends to kick-start their transfer plans as soon as possible. The summer transfer window is seen as the main priority to play cath-up after recruitment was put on hold since the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich.
Tuchel has been helpless in preventing the departures of out-of-contract Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen along with Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso also could potentially leave. On top of that, despite Romelu Lukaku's two goals against Wolves, there are still some major doubts over his future at the club who has been such a disappointment since his club-record move from Inter Milan last summer.
But, despite the concerns over the striker's future, Tuchel is still convinced that the Belgian international can be the long-term solution at the point of attack. With Boehly's intentions of heavily investing in the first team, this summer is shaping up to be absolutely crucial for the club.
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