Chelsea sponsor Trivago appear to have announced that Todd Boehly's consortium has completed the takeover of the west London club via a welcome message on social media. The announcement follows fresh doubts that the £4.25 billion deal to sell the Blues to Boehly and his consortium hit an impasse ahead of the May 31 deadline.
It all seemed as though things were going well in the process after Boehly had been selected as the preferred bidder, with recent appearances at Stamford Bridge and Kingsmeadow fuelling reports. However, earlier this week, a new development reportedly threw a spanner in the works due to an issue between the UK Government and Roman Abramovich.
Sky News reported that government officials had cast doubts over whether a special licence needed to approve the sale will be issued before a deadline at the end of the month. The report clarifies that if this new issue was not solved before the May 31 deadline, the club could go into administration and even be kicked out of all major competitions for the 2022/23 season.
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The cause for concern is believed to be where the proceeds of the sale will end up following the completion of the deal. The government are reportedly seeking to keep the proceeds in a third party account to guarantee the final destination of the money. However, despite the latest concerns, Trivago appear to have welcomed Boehly to Chelsea.
Trivago's tweet has already racked up an enormous number of interactions. The leading global hotel search website were one of the few sponsors to offer Chelsea their support throughout the takeover saga.
The two parties agreed a multi-year partnership ahead of the 2021/22 season, joining the Blues as the club's official training wear partner. Trivago's logo is seen on all of the club's training kits across the Men's, Women's, and Academy Team.
In early March in a statement following the sanctioning of Abramovich by the UK Government, Trivago said: "As a global travel brand, we believe in connecting and bringing people together. These are values shared by Chelsea Football Club, an institution that is now 117 years old with a tradition so vitally important to its fans and communities, both locally and globally, and that is why we decided to partner with the Club last year.
"The uncertainty over the current ownership situation of Chelsea FC has been challenging. Moving forward, it is important to us to continue supporting the club, the fans and community along with the essential work that the Chelsea Foundation does to help those in need. We are looking forward to a transition of ownership as soon as possible and want to support the club in this process. We will provide any update to our business relationship if and when appropriate.
"As a company of global citizens, we cannot condone the unprovoked and catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. We believe in a free world, freedom of speech and peace. We continue our efforts together with our teams to support the humanitarian efforts and to ease the suffering of the affected population. We stand with Ukraine."
