Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears to have been ruled out of the running to succeed Roman Abramovich as the next owner of Chelsea.
Following Abramovich’s huge announcement last night that he is putting the west London club up for sale, reports suggested that British billionaire Ratcliffe was among the interested parties considering a potential bid this week, as well as Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and American Todd Boehly.
However, a spokesperson for Ratcliffe’s chemicals giant INEOS Group has now insisted there is no truth behind those claims.
Instead, Ratcliffe is said to be fully focused on the running of French club OGC Nice, added to his vast and wide-ranging sporting portfolio that already included Swiss outfit FC Lausanne-Sport back in 2019.
“There is no substance to the stories,” the spokesperson for INEOS told Reuters on Thursday.
“Right now his focus is on OGC Nice which made it to the final of the French Cup to be played in Paris at the beginning of May.”
Manchester United supporter Ratcliffe has been linked with buying Chelsea in the past and did not rule out the potential prospect during an interview with the BBC back in 2019.
Ratcliffe’s brother Bob has previously said early talks were held, but did not progress due to the major issue of Stamford Bridge.
Ratcliffe has distanced himself from potentially buying an English football club in recent years, insisting he has “enough on his plate” already with a sporting portfolio that also includes the INEOS cycling and sailing teams and a five-year partnership with Mercedes in Formula 1.
Ratcliffe - one of Britain’s richest men with a reported net worth above £10billion - has also previously described the sky-high valuations of Premier League clubs as “a bit silly”.
