The four parties remaining in the race to purchase Chelsea Football Club have now been handed some extra time. Raine Group extended the deadline until April 14. Initially, Raine had asked for any offers to be presented before April 11.
Raine, the organisation in charge of the bidding process, are expected to wait for Premier League approval before the group reveals its preferred bidder to the UK government. With the deadline extended, the parties can finalise any last-minute details of their bids.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel seemed surprised when asked if he knew about the deadline extension. "I didn't know this. It is what it is. It's the process.
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"I'm sure the people will take care of the process, our board, the government, and on the other side, the people who make the bid, and they take care as fast as possible. It's none of my business, actually, it's not an upset. I am not involved in the daily process, as I've said before. It's not a concern, and we can handle it."
So, with all of this being said, football.london rounds up the very latest on the four parties currently in contention.
Boehly-led consortium
It was reported on Friday morning that Los Angeles Dodgers principal owner, Mark Walter, had joined the bid led by Todd Boehly's consortium. Walter and Boehly have worked together at the Dodgers, so the experience is there.
Boehly is seen as the front-runner to buy Chelsea at the moment. With the addition of Walter, who reportedly has a net worth of $4.4billion, the consortium's financial power has only become stronger.
Ricketts Family
According to a report from The Athletic earlier in the week, Tom and Laura Ricketts met the Chelsea board as they spoke about the Ricketts Family possibly taking over the club. Ken Griffin, a hedge fund manager, has backed the Ricketts' bid.
Also, Dan Gilbert, who heads Rock Entertainment Group, is helping out the controversial bidders. They are not the party the majority of Chelsea supporters want to see, though, with some fans protesting about their potential ownership ahead of the Blues' heavy defeat to Brentford at the weekend.
Broughton-led consortium
Sir Martin Broughton is also leading a consortium, with the businessman looking to complete the takeover of Chelsea. Suppose Broughton's bid is the successful one. In that case, the possible owner will offer supporters a golden share in the club, according to the Telegraph.
As well as this, it has been reported that the Broughton-led consortium will explore the possibility of rebuilding Stamford Bridge stand by stand. Raine are understood to be looking for an owner willing to redevelop Chelsea's home stadium.
Pagliuca-led consortium
Steve Pagliuca, according to Sky Sports, has approached 'a number of wealthy businessmen' about backing his bid to purchase Chelsea FC. It's yet to be reported as to whether the Boston Celtics owner has been successful in his search.
The 67-year-old is said to be worth $3.87bn, meaning he does require some help financially if he is to buy the club. The good news for Pagliuca is that he now has a few extra days to try and find a backer of his bid.
