Chelsea New Owner LIVE: John Terry Chelsea – John Terry who has won five Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns has confirmed that he is at the forefront of a consortium that is looking to purchase a 10% stake in Chelsea for £250million. The Chelsea legend along with former women’s star Claire Rafferty are heading up the consortium called True Blue. A report claims the bid will also allow supporters, players and ex-staff to buy fan tokens for more than £100, with voting rights coming in return. Check John Terry’s official statement. Follow InsideSport.IN for the latest Football updates and news.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: Club Legend John Terry releases statement confirming he is part of a potential £250MILLION consortium called True Blue to buy 10% stake in Chelsea
— John Terry (@JohnTerry26) March 19, 2022
Terry has been extremely active in promoting his ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ non-fungible tokens (NFT) collection in recent months, though its value is said to have plummeted in value by 90 per cent. However, the ex-Blues captain cannot fund a full bid to try and compete for total ownership of the club.
Breaking: John Terry and former women’s star Claire Rafferty are fronting up a £250M consortium called True Blue in an attempt to buy a 10 percent stake in the #Chelsea.
[via @NizaarKinsella]
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) March 18, 2022
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: John Terry’s official statement
“Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years,” said Terry. “I want to see the club’s history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is.”
It comes with the Blues set to close their bidding window for control of the club at 9pm on Friday evening, UK Time after which offers will be whittled down to a shortlist of four potential new owners. Roman Abramovich is looking to sell the club after being hit with sanctions due to his close ties with Vladimir Putin amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Goal claim another figure behind the consortium is Conservative party donor David Meller, a Chelsea fan who is invested in the idea along with his son Jonathan. However, Meller’s involvement could attract controversy after it was claimed he benefitted from the government’s fast-track VIP lane for friends and donors of the Conservative Party to get PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic.
He was also the chairman of the President’s Club, a fundraising group that was shut down following a probe into allegations of sexual harassment at an event in 2018. Goal claim he has worked with the club in a charitable capacity already.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: John Terry to buy a 10% stake in the club
Harley Kisberg, founder of online media company iTech Media, and investment banker Stanford Loudon are also reportedly among other Blues fans to have become founding members of the consortium. Sportsmail has contacted Rafferty, Meller and Kisberg for comment.
The report claims NFTs will be handed out to forward Kai Havertz for his winning goal in last season’s Champions League final, while club captain Cesar Azpilicueta will be another current player to be rewarded for impact on the pitch. The plans have reportedly already been shown to leading fans ahead of an official announcement.
While Terry will not be among those looking to claim full control of the club, the bidding window for the relevant parties will close at 9pm on Friday with a shortlist of offers set to be finalised by the start of next week.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: Deadline day emerges for bidders
A deadline of 2100 GMT on Friday has been set for bidders to table offers to buy Chelsea, with business people from different continents forming unlikely alliances to acquire the Premier League club. Chelsea were initially put up for sale by owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before sanctions were imposed on the Russian oligarch by the British government.
The European champions are currently operating under a special licence and are now effectively controlled by the British government. Raine Group, a US bank, has been overseeing the sale process since before the Russian billionaire was sanctioned. Raine will make a decision around the preferred bidder and the government will only step in once they have received satisfactory evidence that Abramovich will not make any financial gain.
From there it will be up to the prospective buyer to pass the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test before completing their takeover. The Owners’ and Directors’ Test outlines requirements that would prohibit an individual from becoming an owner or director of a club. These include criminal convictions for a wide range of offences, a ban by a sporting or professional body, or breaches of certain key football regulations, such as match-fixing.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: Club Legend John Terry – True Blue
BIDDING WAR One bidder has already submitted an offer. London-based financial firm Aethel Partners confirmed to Reuters that they have put in a bid of over 2 billion pounds ($2.63 billion) for Chelsea, adding that they will provide the club with an immediate sum of 50 million pounds to deal with any short-term financial issues. Some famous faces are involved in several other prospective bids. British property developer Nick Candy, a Chelsea supporter, said he was interested in making a offer, and has been joined by former player and manager Gianluca Vialli.
“I have met Nick Candy on a number of occasions over the last few weeks and I am fully behind his visions,” Vialli said in a statement, after it was announced the company he co-founded, Tifosy, will act as lead advisor for the process. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has joined a consortium including former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton that hopes to buy Chelsea. “I am certain Sir Martin is the right man to lead Chelsea Football Club into its next chapter,” Coe said in a statement to British media.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE:
Two of the consortiums interested in buying Chelsea have been growing in number as the deadline approaches. Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss, who has linked up with LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly to express an interest in buying Chelsea, has been joined by British businessman Jonathan Goldstein and Conservative peer Daniel Finkelstein. “I’m passionate about Chelsea to the point of eccentricity,” Finkelstein wrote on Twitter.
“I want owners who will invest but are also insightful and use modern methods to keep our club on top of the world. I believe Todd Boehly would be just such an owner.” The other alliance sees the owners of U.S. baseball team the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family, teaming up with Citadel founder Ken Griffin to work on a bid to buy Chelsea, a spokesperson for both parties said. Reuters has been told the bid does not involve Citadel, the hedge fund business, only Griffin.
Chelsea New Owner LIVE: Club Legend John Terry releases statement confirming he is part of a £250MILLION consortium called True Blue to buy 10% stake in Chelsea
(Inputs from Reuters and DailyMail)
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