Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton claims that the consortium of international billionaires he and World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe are leading will have the funds to keep Chelsea at the level at which they have become accustomed.
Broughton, who served as Liverpool chairman between April 2010 and December 2010 and oversaw the takeover of the Reds from the ruinous regime of Tom Hicks and George Gillett to the John Henry led Fenway Sports Group, or New England Sports Ventures as it was then known, is fronting a bid with Lord Coe, the chief of the London 2012 Olympics, with major backers also on board.
US billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer are both part of the consortium that seeks to takeover at Chelsea following the club coming up for sale after Roman Abramovich, Chelsea owner since 2003, was sanctioned for his historical ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin by UK Government, part of a number of sanctioned individuals and businesses in the wake of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.
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Harris and Blitzer, who own the New Jersey Devils NHL ice hockey team and the Philadephia 76ers NBA team, are minority stakeholders in Crystal Palace and would be required to divest their interests in the Eagles should their bid be successful.
And it is the Broughton-led bid that it is claimed, in a report by The Times, that has support inside Government, who will be tasked with choosing the successful bidder with over 30 parties submitting formal interest by the time that the deadline passed late on Friday night.
Lord Coe, a Tory Peer and former Conservative MP in between 1992 and 1997, has been an ally of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the past, not least through the successful delivery of the London 2012 Olympics at a time when Johnson was Mayor of London. And with significant backing financially, as well as strong relationships within UK Government, the bid of Broughton, Coe, Harris and Blitzer will likely be a strong front runner to acquire the club, which has been valued at £2bn.
And if they were to be successful, Broughton told the BBC earlier today (Saturday) that they would be seeking to maintain Chelsea's position among the elite, something that arrived through Abramovich's heavy spend over the previous 19 years that saw them rack up £1.5m in debt to their Russian owner, a debt that he never intended to call in.
"It's a group of individuals from around the world, highly capitalised. This will be all their own money, no exit timelines, and from four or five continents," Broughton said.
"All of these people are committed to keeping Chelsea at the level it is at the moment - a top championship-winning team."
For Liverpool and their rivals, whoever takes over next will have ramifications further down the line in terms of whether Chelsea continue to be a spending force that allows for them to challenge on all fronts, or whether they will have to take a longer view to making the club successful and weaning them off the funds that Abramovich had been so willing to pour in in pursuit of success for almost 20 years.
Other parties to have lodged bids include the joint effort from US investor Todd Boehly and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss; UK property tycoon Nick Candy's bid alongside South Korean companies Hana Financial Group and C&P Sports Ltd, and he owners of the US baseball team the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family, who have gone in on a bid in conjunction with Citadel founder and multi-billionaire Ken Griffin.
