Roman Abramovich’s huge announcement that he has put Chelsea up for sale has led to furious speculation over who will take the ownership reins at Stamford Bridge.
Abramovich’s 19-year stint in charge has brought an unparalleled period of success in west London, with 21 major trophies won and the face of English and wider elite European football changed forever.
The next Chelsea owner has a significant act to follow, though is likely to face issues... not least the stadium, which is the smallest of the Premier League’s so-called ‘Big Six’ with the freehold belonging not to Abramovich but the non-profit Chelsea Pitch Owners.
Reports suggest that Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and American billionaire Todd Boehly are preparing a joint-bid to present to Abramovich, who is set to write off the £1.5billion worth of loans he has made to the club since taking charge in 2003 and says he will donate the proceeds of the sale to a new foundation he will set up in benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.
However, the prospect of a Chelsea sale has also brought renewed links to British billionaire businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with suggestions last night that he is considering a potential offer for the reigning European and world club champions.
However, a spokesperson for Ratcliffe has since told Reuters there is “no substance” behind those claims.
Monaco-based Ratcliffe is one of Britain’s richest men with a reported net worth of more than £10bn and the chairman and CEO of the Ineos chemicals group.
He has built up significant experience across the sporting spectrum with sailing team INEOS Britannia, cycling’s Team INEOS (formerly Team Sky) and a five-year partnership with the Mercedes Formula 1 team signed in 2020.
Ratcliffe is also involved in football after purchasing Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport in 2017 and French outfit OGC Nice two years later.
He has been linked to Chelsea on several occasions in the past, reportedly possessing a season ticket at the Bridge despite being a Manchester United supporter.
Ratcliffe did not appear to rule out the prospect of one day owning Chelsea during an interview with the BBC’s Dan Roan back in 2019.
“I’m a big Manchester United fan. A tortured Manchester United fan at the moment to be honest,” he said.
“I think we’ve dipped our toe in the water with football, it’s a very different sport. It’s quite a complicated sport. It’s a complicated world and we’ve dipped our toe in the water.
“We’re in the process of learning about it. We bought this club in Switzerland, and that’s really been educational. We’re just taking... we haven’t got to where we’ve got to in our chemicals and business world by being impetuous and rash and stupid, obviously.
“We recognise it’s a very complex world and we’re sort of going through that process of learning and we’re not in a desperate hurry to get to the end game with football.”
He added: “Never say no, but I don’t know where those conversations will finish up”.
Ratcliffe’s brother Bob said that there were early talks over a potential purchase of Chelsea, but those went nowhere due to the looming issue of Stamford Bridge.
“There was some early exchange but we were a significant way apart on valuations,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The issue with Chelsea is its stadium. We are all getting older and it is a decade of your life to resolve that.”
Speaking again to the BBC in February 2020, Jim Ratcliffe seemed to play down the prospect of investing in a Premier League football club, saying he had “enough on his plate” with his other sporting endeavours while describing valuations of English teams as “a bit silly”.
“We are very comfortable with where we are with Nice actually,” he said.
“It’s going quite well, it’s been quite interesting, we are still learning and it is quite a challenging league in France with some very talented players.”
Asked if he had any further sporting investment plans, Ratcliffe added: “Nothing. I think that is quite sufficient at the moment, it is quite a platform.
“We will see whether they can benefit from each other in certain ways, but I think that is quite enough challenges for Ineos at the moment, honestly.”
