Todd Boehly’s consortium has finally received approval from both the UK and Premier League governments to buy Chelsea, in the latest development of the ongoing saga on the sale of the West London team .
On Tuesday night, the Premier League confirmed that it had given the green light to the LA Dodgers stakeholder to ratify his takeover of the sanctioned Roman Abramovich, owner of the club for 19 years.
Then, on Wednesday morning, government officials confirmed that they were convinced “that all the profits from the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or any other sanctioned person.”
A statement from Whitehall said: “Last night, the UK government reached a position where we could issue a license to sell Chelsea Football Club.
“Following the sanction of Roman Abramovich, the government has worked hard to ensure that Chelsea Football Club can continue to play football. But we have always been clear that the club’s long-term future could only be secured with a new owner.
“After extensive work, we are now satisfied that the full profits from the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or any other sanctioned person. We will now begin the process of ensuring that the proceeds of the sale are used for humanitarian causes in Ukraine, supporting the victims of the war.
“Today’s steps will secure the future of this important cultural asset and protect the football fans and the community at large. We have been in discussions with relevant international partners about the necessary licenses and we thank them for their full cooperation.” .
Todd Boehly’s £ 4.2bn acquisition is almost complete after the deal is signed
Boehly has been in several Chelsea games towards the end of the season
Boehly avoided competition from the consortia led by Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton and even a late £ 4.25bn bid from the UK’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
A total of £ 2.5 billion “will be applied to buy the club’s shares and this proceeds will be deposited in a frozen UK bank account with the intention of donating 100% to charitable causes, as confirmed by Roman Abramovich”.
“The other £ 1.75 billion will go to ‘more investments for the benefit of the club’, such as Stamford Bridge, the academy, the Chelsea women’s team and the continued funding of the Chelsea Foundation.”
So, with the league and Whitehall officials giving the green light, what happens now?
Here, Sportsmail details the remaining obstacles that still need to be removed and the impact on Chelsea’s future.
What else needs to be done to end the Abramovich era?
Crucially, for Chelsea fans, it’s almost there.
Getting the green light from the Premier League and the government was a big step forward and now the process will be to develop the sales license so that Abramovich can negotiate with Boehly and his consortium.
From here, the inauguration will have to receive the approval of the officials of the European Union, the waiting owners will have to cross the tiles and with points at the time of signing the definitive documents and then they will have the keys .
It has been a long and arduous process, a takeover like no other in the Premier League, but now the end is in sight.
The Chelsea acquisition saga is almost over with Abramovich completing the sale to Boehly
How long will it take?
How long is a piece of rope?
Of course, with this level of bureaucracy it is always difficult to say exactly, but this takeover does not reach the final stages and confirmation is expected once and for all imminently.
It’s hard to imagine this dragging past the end of the week.
What allows them to make today’s announcement?
It allows Chelsea to start looking to the future without the bureaucracy of sanctions.
Everything has been closed during this process. No club shop, no possibility of selling tickets, has only been an obstacle for the end of the season.
Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have shown ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chelsea was subject to a strict government operating license, with all of Abramovich’s other assets in the UK frozen.
Now, with the end of the season and rivals starting to flex their financial muscles in the transfer market (look at Manchester City who took Erling Haaland for £ 51 million at Borussia Dortmund), Chelsea know they will soon it will erase all that bureaucracy.
Once Boehly’s acquisition is complete, the Blues will be able to return to business as usual, and there will be no time to waste in reconfiguring the game team.
Normalcy is on the horizon, providing any late hiccups.
The government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have given the green light to the Boehly-led takeover
Could Portugal still offer a hiccup?
The key to this agreement is now the approval of the EU and the Portuguese: Abramovich has the citizenship and, therefore, there are also sanctions against him.
Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho confirmed, through Portugal Resident, that ‘obviously we are in dialogue with the British government; we are in dialogue with the European Commission … we will be uncompromising in enforcing our legal obligations. ‘
Cravinho, head of Portuguese diplomacy, added that “in relation to Chelsea, of course, there is an absolutely fundamental point: Portugal applies sanctions that were decreed by the European Union.”
Discussions between Whitehall officials and their counterparts in Brussels and Portugal have been intense and have frustrated the process so far.
But approval is now believed to be a stepping stone for Boehly to close the deal this week.
What is the final price?
4.25 million pounds.
It will initially be £ 2.5bn with various guarantees involved in the deal, as there are often large-scale transactions like this.
Thomas Tuchel’s players now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle
What happens next (on the grass)?
A couple of things: a big impact on the market for signings and contract renewals.
We start with coach Thomas Tuchel, who is queuing up to receive £ 200 million to spend on new players this summer, once the deal is signed, sealed and delivered.
No doubt the new US owners are ready to make a clear statement of their bold plan to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool for the titles in the coming years by making a splash in the summer transfer market.
The Telegraph has detailed that £ 200 million, some of which will be funded by player sales, will be the war chest to be handed to Tuchel, who handed out a Champions League to the Blues last season.
Defense is the top priority, with Antonio Rudiger, at Real Madrid, and Andreas Christensen, at Barcelona, leaving the club free and the future of captain César Azpilicueta still uncertain.
Sevilla’s Jules Kounde is believed to have been the first to walk through the Stamford Bridge gate, having been a long-term target for Chelsea.
The Telegraph also reported that a shocking move for Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling could be ready with the English international entering the final year of his contract.
Sevilla defender Jules Kounde is likely to move to Stamford Bridge this summer
Speaking of the settlement of contracts, we hope that the future of Mason Mount and Reece James, both players will leave the club’s academy in recent years to be the first on the agenda.
Mount has conceded 11 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League this season and was the only Chelsea player to score double for either.
The local talent won a second Player of the Year award (in so many seasons) and is still one of the club’s lowest paid players with a weekly salary of £ 80,000, which newspaper I says will be doubled once Boehly’s acquisition is completed. .
However, that will change if Chelsea’s planned takeover is done with The I reporting that Mount’s salaries will double more than if the club is bought successfully.
As for James, he has flourished since he joined the first team and the interest in him is not surprising, hence the need to get him in new conditions.
It is already under contract until 2025, but many reports have detailed plans for a one- or two-year contract extension, with a new agreement.
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League this season, but Boehly’s bold plan to refresh the team and retain the biggest stars should be music to the ears of fans.
Mason Mount topped Chelsea’s 2021/22 Premier League goals and assists
Will Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck stay?
Potentially.
Both have played such key roles during the Abramovich era and Boehly has shown an apparent willingness to keep them involved, even if only in the interim.
It is reported that Buck and Granovskaia are ready for big profits after the conclusion of this long acquisition agreement.
According to the Times, Chelsea president Buck will earn £ 30m from the club’s £ 5.25bn sale to Boehly, while director Granovskaia will raise £ 20m.
The government has been desperate to make sure Abramovich will not personally benefit from the acquisition in any way, and Whitehall chiefs are said to be pleased that the proceeds will not go to the Russian.
But two of the key members of Chelsea’s board of directors, who have been helping to boost sales, will reap the benefits now that it has passed.
However, his remuneration for this sale does not necessarily mean that his time at the club is over. Look at this spatial situation surrounding Buck and Granovskaya.
Bruce Buck (left) and Marina Granovskaia (right) will reap unexpected profits from the sale
Buck (left) and Granovskaia can still stay at the club if Boehly (right) wants them to stay
Where does the money from the sale go?
As we say, definitely not in Abramovich, given the sanctions imposed on him.
It has been the …