May 24 – The £4.25 billion sale of Chelsea to a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team co-owner Todd Boehly is on the verge of finally being approved by the UK government, according to reports.
The reports say that authorities have now received legal guarantees that Chelsea’s outgoing owner Roman Abramovich will not benefit from the sale after being sanctioned because of his links with Vladimir Putin.
Boehly will become Chelsea’s controlling owner once the takeover is complete, bringing to an end a 12-week saga that was sparked by Abramovich officially putting the club up for sale after 19 years in charge.
It is being suggested that those negotiating the deal are satisfied that Abramovich’s £1.6 billion loan to the club will not go to him or his family and will instead be placed in a frozen account under government control.
Chelsea, whose prospective new owners were on the pitch after Sunday’s final-day win over Watford, have been unable to buy or sell players or hand out new contracts and need clearance to do business in the summer transfer window.
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