Chelsea

[Lee909]

7 hours ago, aRdja said:

I reckon this is a blessing in disguise for Chelsea. They have arguably the best academy in the world at the moment and with funding no longer limitless, the seduction to compete with City and PSG for big transfers will no longer be there. They could’ve still had the likes of Lamptey, Tomori, Abraham, Livramento, Musiala, Guehi, Rice.. that’s before taking into account the players out on loan like Gallagher and Broja. 
 

3-4-2-1 

Mendy; James, Guehi, Tomori; Lamptey, Rice, Gallagher, Boga; Musiala, Mount; Abraham

 

Subs: Chalobah, Christiansen, Livramento, Gilmour, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Broja.

I can’t think of a goalie off the top of my head so I’ve kept Mendy in for now, but that’s a mightily impressive starting XI, as well as squad and would probably do as well as the current Chelsea team if not better. 
 

Without the limitless funds they wouldn't have so stacked a academy 

[DaveT]

1 minute ago, Lee909 said:

Without the limitless funds they wouldn't have so stacked a academy 

Their dodgy practices in recruiting for that same academy resulted in a FIFA transfer ban, a fact that our media seem completely blind to.

[DaveT]

There’s every chance that this hateful club will come out of this crisis virtually unscathed. Possibly even better off, with the promise of a new stadium, which was unlikely had Abramovic not been given the bum’s rush. 
That will be a totally undeserving outcome for a club that has had two decades of continuous success off the back of a massive theft from the Russian people. 

[JohnnyH]

12 minutes ago, DaveT said:

There’s every chance that this hateful club will come out of this crisis virtually unscathed. Possibly even better off, with the promise of a new stadium, which was unlikely had Abramovic not been given the bum’s rush. 
That will be a totally undeserving outcome for a club that has had two decades of continuous success off the back of a massive theft from the Russian people. 

To remain competitive they’ve built up over £1.5bn in debt. Regardless of how little overall damage is done, this will fundamentally change their ability to be at the front and constantly payoff managers, buy top players, and stack their academy with talent. 
 

They were semi competitive before Abramovich and will revert to that. Unless they have the luck of a double lotto winner, then they won’t have owners happy to just build up obscene debt to keep them at the top again. 
 

Basically, there is no chance they come out of this unscathed or better off. 

[Moctezuma]

14 minutes ago, DaveT said:

There’s every chance that this hateful club will come out of this crisis virtually unscathed. Possibly even better off, with the promise of a new stadium, which was unlikely had Abramovic not been given the bum’s rush. 
That will be a totally undeserving outcome for a club that has had two decades of continuous success off the back of a massive theft from the Russian people. 

 

Completely concur with this.

 

The thing that annoys me when talking to their fans down here is there is a lot of "oh we'll just go back to being a team that challenges for the FA Cup and gets into Europe by being about 8th to 4th in the league, like we were in the 90's". They only achieved that by Bates and the boards egregious overspending, when Abramovic came in they were getting close to going bust with a £79m debt overhang that they were struggling to service, all those foreign imports that enabled them to win the FA Cup and Cup Winners Cup were another tranche of financially doped competitors but just in a different era.

 

Off the top of my head I think only Real Madrid and Internazionale at this point have had such a consistent run of overspending against revenues (given Rangers demise).

[m0e]

Whatever anyone says about anything they've done, it's always been as dodgy as fuck, and sometimes clearly illegal. They can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

[dockers_strike]

3 minutes ago, m0e said:

Whatever anyone says about anything they've done, it's always been as dodgy as fuck, and sometimes clearly illegal. They can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

Every one of their trophy wins under Abramovich has an asterisk.

[stringvest]

9 hours ago, DaveT said:

There’s every chance that this hateful club will come out of this crisis virtually unscathed. Possibly even better off, with the promise of a new stadium, which was unlikely had Abramovic not been given the bum’s rush. 
That will be a totally undeserving outcome for a club that has had two decades of continuous success off the back of a massive theft from the Russian people. 

I'm not sure about this.  I'm optimistic that they might be challenged on some of their more recent wins.  And I'd be amazed if they were allowed to overspend.  I can imagine a new owner relocating them to Hounslow or somewhere.  

[Barrington Womble]

9 hours ago, DaveT said:

There’s every chance that this hateful club will come out of this crisis virtually unscathed. Possibly even better off, with the promise of a new stadium, which was unlikely had Abramovic not been given the bum’s rush. 
That will be a totally undeserving outcome for a club that has had two decades of continuous success off the back of a massive theft from the Russian people. 

I've said from the out set they would come out effectively unscathed when everyone was thinking they were bankrupt. About the best we can hope for is they get taken over by US business, be that sporting people, PE funding or venture capitalists. I think though all this "new owners must buy a new stadium" is just a bunch of abramovich PR though. "I'm a nice guy, look at the legacy I left". It's a fucking fire sale. 

 

18 hours ago, George Costanza said:

This Chelsea sale is just as corrupt as their current owner. It stinks of goverment interference and favouritism.  Until Abramovich's assets are either unfrozen or seized then legally I'm not sure how a sale can actually take place.  Dodgy as fuck imo

I don't understand this. Chelsea is a frozen asset now, except it can operate under the terms of the license granted by the government - it can't be seized because UK law (unlike EU law) doesn't allow for this. The government has said countless times they will amend the license to facilitate the sale. Their aim is to go after abramovich and not Chelsea. So the bankers responsible for the sale process before sanctions have continued their search for new owners. When they find one, they (and the Chelsea board) will request the government amend the license to allow the sale to go through. 

[dockers_strike]

Think they'd find it hard moving ground to be honest. They cant be called chelsea fc without the chelsea pitch owners agreement. Not even abramovich could get them to sell up to him a few years back when he offered them lots of money for their shares.

 

Abramovich isnt driving the sale, a US bank via the UK Government is. Last I heard the money from any sale would be given to good causes but I still dont see how this billion quid commitment to stadium and team rebuilding fits in with the supposed PL financial regulations.

 

People might say the PL isnt bothered. They might not be but all the clubs other than city and newcastle will be at the thought of any new owner can pump half a billion or more into the player side, no questions and as a condition of the sale.

[dockers_strike]

Chelsea will host all of the shortlisted bidders to buy the club before a deadline for improved offers which has been set on or around April 11.

Telegraph Sport can reveal the next phase of the sale process, sent to the shortlisted bidders by New York merchant bank Raine over the weekend, which includes:

• An April 11 deadline for second bids.
• The chance to meet Chelsea department heads.
• A tour of the club’s facilities.
• The aim of closing a sale by the end of April.

Once the final offers have been collected, a preferred buyer will be selected for Government approval with the intention of a deal being completed by the end of April.

 

That gives Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, who are behind Sir Martin Broughton’s offer, and Stephen Pagliuca, whose bid was shortlisted, just a month to divest or dilute their shares in Crystal Palace and Atalanta or face elimination.

 

Harris and Blitzer currently own stakes in Palace, despite funding the bid fronted by Broughton, while Pagliuca’s 55 per cent stake in Atalanta presents a problem because of the potential for both Chelsea and the Italian team to play in the Champions League.

 

With Raine confirming to shortlisted bidders that they will take improved offers, it is anticipated Chelsea’s final sale price will push above £2.5billion.

 

Those offers must be submitted on or around Monday, April 11, which gives bidders two weeks to quiz club officials such as chairman Bruce Buck, directors Eugene Tenenbaum and Marina Granovskaia, chief executive Guy Lawrence and head coach Thomas Tuchel, and get a behind-the-scenes look at Chelsea’s facilities.

 

It means Americans Todd Boehly, Pete Ricketts, Harris and Pagliuca are likely to fly to London to hold personal meetings and see the club with their own eyes, although none of the groups confirmed this to Telegraph Sport.

 

The shortlisted bidders have been given the green light to set up those meetings and tours, which could start as early as this week.

Having only so far seen last year’s accounts, groups are also likely to be given a more up-to-date and in-depth look into the club’s finances although Chelsea are believed to reserve the right to refuse to answer questions.

 

Chelsea have three games between now and April 11, against Brentford in the Premier League, Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League and away at Southampton.

 

There appears to be some flexibility in the deadline, with bidders told to have their offers submitted on or around that date, which falls the day before Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg trip to Madrid.

 

A preferred buyer may well have been chosen by the time Chelsea face Palace in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on April 17, with confusion currently surrounding who Harris and Blitzer will be backing at that point.

 

It is over a week since Broughton insisted the identities of his investors from “all around the world” would be made transparent and yet, even with his bid now shortlisted, they are still to be confirmed.

Having become a surprise addition to the shortlist, Pagliuca is yet to confirm whether or not he is working with a consortium of investors or provide clarity over his plans for Atalanta now he has made a bid for Chelsea.

 

Sources close to the co-owner of the Boston Celtics claim he is prevented from making public the details of his bid by non-disclosure agreements.

 

Even though Raine and Chelsea have been given the details of the Harris and Pagliuca offers, the mystery and uncertainty surrounding their current ability to complete a deal leaves Boehly as the frontrunner of the shortlisted bidders.

 

The Ricketts family have made it clear that they can afford the extra £1bn commitment to invest in the stadium and squad that Chelsea are demanding, but the group remain targets of a #notoRicketts campaign from fans on social media.

 

That leaves the Ricketts in a race against time to somehow turn around public perception with Raine confirming to Telegraph Sport over the weekend that the views of Chelsea’s supporters will be considered during the final process.

 

Chelsea fans were outraged that the Ricketts were advanced to the shortlist, despite the emergence of racist emails sent by the father of the family Joe and comments from other members of the family.

A spokesperson for the Raine Group told Telegraph Sport: “Our commission is tied to both proceeds and the capital contributed to build and run the club for its future success.

 

The process is moving along as we anticipated and will accelerate from here, with robust bidding as we seek an optimal outcome for the club and the fans.”

 

Raine have refused to confirm whether or not any of their fee, which is set to run into the tens of millions, will be donated to charity with all the proceeds of Chelsea’s sale going to good causes because of the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/03/27/revealed-chelsea-bidders-given-final-deadline-complete-takeover/

[tokyojoe]

2 hours ago, stringvest said:

I'm not sure about this.  I'm optimistic that they might be challenged on some of their more recent wins.  And I'd be amazed if they were allowed to overspend.  I can imagine a new owner relocating them to Hounslow or somewhere.  

Hounslow, that would be a pain in the arse to get to. Funny though.

[Anubis]

FFP wouldn’t penalise stadium money, would it? 

[dockers_strike]

37 minutes ago, Anubis said:

FFP wouldn’t penalise stadium money, would it? 

No, money for stadium improvements or new build are allowed. One of the questions though is exactly how much of the billion finds its way into team rebuilding?

 

In my opinion, they arent rebuilding a whole new stadium. They'll rebuild the current shit hole. Even united balked at building a new Old Trafford.

 

 

[TD_LFC]

One of Abramovich's issues was winning over the Chelsea pitch owners, think the club and it's new owners would need a 75% backing from the CPO to approve a move.

[No2]

I could promise to build them a stadium. 

[dockers_strike]

4 hours ago, TD_LFC said:

One of Abramovich's issues was winning over the Chelsea pitch owners, think the club and it's new owners would need a 75% backing from the CPO to approve a move.

Yes, I read the trigger was 75%. In that last vote they had, only 60+% (not sure if it was 61 or 69%) were in favour so Abramovich's offer failed.

[deiseach]

34 minutes ago, No2 said:

I could promise to build them a stadium. 

You've built stadiums for Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook!

[3 Stacks]

Apparently, Abramovich has been KGB'd.

[Em City]

7 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

Apparently, Abramovich has been KGB'd.

 

He fell out of a window?

[3 Stacks]

Just now, Em City said:

 

He fell out of a window?

Poisoned.

[DJLJ]

55 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

Poisoned.

The Russians couldn’t even do this right. This whole thing has been a right disaster for them. 

[coachpotato]

What an unfortunate situation, Abramovich poisoned at the peace talks, apparently not enough to hurt or kill him though, nothing suspicious in this at all though, hey?

 

[dockers_strike]

6 minutes ago, coachpotato said:

What an unfortunate situation, Abramovich poisoned at the peace talks, apparently not enough to hurt or kill him though, nothing suspicious in this at all though, hey?

 

I feel a conspiracy theory in the air, no?

[coachpotato]

Surely not??
I would never accuse Abramovich of looking for the sympathy vote.