Vesper

FUCK our luck truly ran out

Bank to cut down shortlist of preferred Chelsea bidders to three from field of more than 100 At least one Chelsea bid ‘matches Abramovich’s valuation of £3bn’ https://archive.ph/EN26M#selection-765.0-769.65 The field for the race to buy Chelsea will be reduced to no more than three preferred bidders by early next week, according to sources close to the process. The New York bank appointed by Roman Abramovich to find a new owner set a deadline of Friday for bids, with more than 100 parties said to be interested in acquiring the European and Club World Cup champions. The government is understood to have advised Chelsea that the quickest way of achieving a sale is for Abramovich to agree that the proceeds of the sale will be put into a frozen third-party or escrow account before it is distributed to good causes. That would help accelerate approval for a special sale licence once it has been submitted by the club. Abramovich had previously committed to donating the proceeds to help the victims of the war in Ukraine but as a result of his sanctioning he would not be able to have any influence over the destination of the money. Several consortiums have been enlisting high-profile Chelsea fans to back their bids. It was confirmed that Michael Klein, a prominent American investment banker, and Creative Artists Agency, the US talent management agency, are behind a bid being fronted by Lord Coe and Sir Martin Broughton, the former chairman of British Airways who was briefly the chairman of Liverpool before brokering the Fenway takeover at Anfield in 2010. The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs baseball team, are also considered serious contenders given the wealth of their bid partner, Kenneth Griffin. The American fund manager has a personal fortune of more than £20 billion. But some insiders still believe that the consortium comprising the LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, the London property tycoon Jonathan Goldstein and the Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss remains a leading bid. They have had their ownership proposal in place for some time, having expressed an interest in buying Chelsea in the past and have already tabled a bid approaching £2.5 billion. Sources claim at least one bidder has matched Abramovich’s valuation of £3 billion, but the Boehly group believe that their stewardship of the Dodgers and their expertise in property development — given the need to rebuild Stamford Bridge — makes them an attractive proposition. On Thursday they added a former UK government adviser and a celebrity PR executive to their consortium, with Danny Finkelstein and Barbara Charone to become non-executive board directors if they are successful. Finkelstein, a lifelong Chelsea fan, is a columnist at The Times who was part of the working group that advised Tracey Crouch MP on her fan-led review of English football. In the past he has also provided advice to Conservative prime ministers John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May. Charone is a legendary figure in the field of music PR, having worked with Madonna, Keith Richards, Rod Stewart and Depeche Mode. American-born, she moved to London in the 1970s and has supported Chelsea “religiously” since 1979. In a statement Finkelstein said: “I am delighted to be part of the Todd Boehly consortium seeking to buy Chelsea FC. These are smart guys, who don’t just have the money to invest, they get how to use it. They understand about data and they understand about fans. I’m really excited about the plans for fan involvement, which I believe in strongly. I want Chelsea to be pioneers. “I’m passionate about Chelsea to the point of eccentricity. I want owners who will invest but are also insightful and use modern methods to keep our club on top of the world. “This is a bid from fervent sports fans, really successful backers of champions. Just look at the LA Dodgers: what they have invested and what they have won.” Another potential bidder for Chelsea emerged with Aethel Partners, a London-based investment firm, claiming it has registered a bid of more than £2 billion. It said its blueprint for the club would be to keep the management in place and to commit £50 million in short-term financing to keep the club solvent. A spokesman said Aethel Partners would build a new stadium on the Stamford Bridge site and is committed to improving the women’s team and the club’s community links. It is unclear what the source of the funding would be as Aethel Partners’ most recent accounts stated it had assets of £193,000, but the spokesman said it owned the rights to an iron ore mine in Portugal. Meanwhile, the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) has backed the Chelsea fans’ trust in calling for supporters to be given shares in the club. Tim Payton of the AST said: “The football world will be watching how the government proceeds. It can send an important statement of intent to fans of every club, and how it will proceed with implementing the fan-led review of football governance, by demonstrating that football really is the people’s game. “Football clubs are far too important to be owned by any one person or entity, be it a nation state, oligarch or profit-seeking investor.”

Soyuncu has been shambolic all year, he himself admits he has been very poor and yes, Bastoni is great, but no chance, he said no way he wants to leave Inter and Italy in general great Italian CB's are insanely hard to prise away from good Italian teams

you have no clue how much he is damaged goods, none of us do, I absolutely do not and zero chance he leaves Leicester anytime soon after they 100% stuck with him all through his horrid injury he also just (as another poster said) re-signed for 5 more years

Kounde is a dwarf and was trash tonight v West Ham (besides poor positioning, he was so dominated in the air), I am still NOT sold on him, not at all and Trevoh has been shambolic lately (hopefully just a learning curve patch, he has all most of the tools, except he is not great on the ball, which is a problem I admit) AC's main issue is he is a bit fragile, but overall, when fit, he is a more that decent CB CB's left on my list in bold red are the only 3 truly WC CBs (WC now, not down the road, and also not 32yo or up) who are remotely available, and the first 2 will cost a shedload. KK is soon 31yo, so will be far cheaper, but he is soon 31yo, and we really do not do that (unless he came on a free, which is NOT happening, lol) Marquinhos (90% will not come) Matthijs de Ligt Milan Skriniar Alessandro Bastoni (90% will not come) Pau Torres (he has finally won me over, potential WC, would much rather take him than Kounde) Kalidou Koulibaly (if a fair price, as he turns 31yo on June 20) Ronald Araújo (if Barca cannot get him to renew, which I think they do get him to do so, unfortunately) Bremer (a beast, has so so developed in a rock sold CB) Jurrien Timber (20yo from Ajax, only downside is his height, as he is only 1.82m, but is crazy fast and superb on the ball) Robin Le Normand (a French Basque, super on the ball, good height, 1.88m, has come on so much lately for Real Sociedad) Merih Demiral (has been immense for Atalanta) Josko Gvardiol (good young Croatian) Maxence Lacroix (has dipped in form) Odilon Kossounou (21yo potential Rudiger type, still pretty raw) Nico Schlotterbeck (I would love this sleeper buy, I think he is a beast already) Gonçalo Inácio (20yo from Sporting Lisbon, huge upside) Adam Webster (IF we are going for a home-grown, he is it) Attila Szalai (I actually DO rate him) David Carmo (monster size, 1.96m, 22yo from Braga)

and now these motherfuckers! Premier League clubs question Chelsea's unfair advantage if Roman Abramovich writes off debt Premier League rivals have raised concerns that Chelsea could benefit from having their £1.5billion debt to Roman Abramovich written off if the club finds new owners https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-Chelsea-abramovich-debt-26476121 Premier League clubs have questioned whether Chelsea would receive an 'unfair advantage' if owner Roman Abramovich writes off his £1.5billion debt in a potential takeover. The Blues were put up for sale by the Russian billionaire almost a fortnight ago - after his links to Vladimir Putin came to light following the invasion of Ukraine - and in his hasty exit strategy, Abramovich pledged that he would not ask for any debt accumulated over the past 19 years, which he is owed, to be repaid by the south-west London club. But since the UK government sanctioned Abramovich and froze his assets, Chelsea have been plunged into further crisis and must wait for Downing Street to issue them with a new licence to be sold. Should a solution emerge and Abramovich stick to his pledge, the new regime would not have to deal with the backlog of cash, leading chiefs of rival Premier League clubs to raise concerns over the potentially advantageous situation. The Telegraph report that in a call convened by the league on Monday afternoon, representatives of the other 19 clubs were updated on the Blues' situation by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck. The general consensus from rivals was that Abramovich's successor could benefit from not having to repay the £1.5bn, which has been racked up since the 55-year-old bought the Blues for £140million in 2003, before super-charging them to the top of world football. Buck went on to confirm that Chelsea had enough financial rescuers to complete the season and would not go into administration. Any bids to buy the club must be submitted by the close of play on Friday to Raine Group in New York, who is tasked with overseeing the process. Once the offers are in, the terms of a government licence will dictate how things proceed. A consortium of US investor Todd Boehly, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and British property developer Jonathan Goldstein are the current favourites, but Nick Candy and Saudi Media Group are also in the running. Both the Premier League and government are keen for a sale to be completed swiftly and avoid compounding political scrutiny. It is added that Premier League policy director Helen MacNamara will appear in front of a select Department of Digital, Media, Culture, Sport committee to discuss football's response to the Ukraine crisis and disinformation surrounding Russia. Chelsea's predicament has seen the topic of sportwashing thrust into the spotlight, with manager Thomas Tuchel constantly facing probes over both the club's future and Abramovich's ties to Putin. But the German tactician has insisted that his focus remains on dealing with the Blues' day-to-day situation in footballing terms. "It's the same situation as in the last days. There is no update or other feeling around [Cobham]," Tuchel told a news conference on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Lille. "We have to deal with it. There are things to talk about, like how to arrive at games. "Things that are normally taken care of, but now we have to stick together, give our opinions, and then we have to find solutions. There are subjects we don't usually discuss but now we will." He added: "A need owner needs to arrive, to be approved, and then own the club. Then we discuss it. "There is a process how you become an owner in this league, and of course, as I said after the last game, everybody relies on the process and the values which are behind the decisions and allowances to run a club. Did I have a choice to take this role [over the last two weeks]? No, but it is day-by-day. "Not a lot of people in England are talking at a club. It is something I appreciate that we keep it inside. I try to be honest, give you an insight, and give you information from a coach's heart. This is what I try and what you can rely on." Regarding the off-pitch uncertainty, forward Kai Havertz admitted: "We are all professionals. Everyone knows it's a strange situation for everyone at the club. We are the players and have to focus on the matches. That's all we can do. "The other stuff the club has to sort out themselves. It's not for the players. I can't speak about it too much because we are focused on the games and that is what is important for us at the moment."

ffs 🤬

West Ham United Sevilla extended highlights https://soccercatch.com/matches/18501144/west-ham-united-vs-sevilla#media

Everton vs Newcastle United https://www.totalsportek.com/everton15/ http://www.footy.to/sports/2022/premier-league-everton-vs-newcastle-united-s4/

Insane goal by Boga to clinch it in the 92nd minute wow

2021-22 UEFA Europa League, Round of 16 Bayer Leverkusen Atalanta https://en.vipleague.tv/bayer-04-leverkusen-vs-atalanta-bc-1-live-streaming http://soccermotor.com/others/matches/bayer-leverkusen-vs-atalanta/ https://www.totalsportek.com/atalanta13/

he is the anti Conte meh in the league, a monster in Europe

I want Benfica

Tuchel is so fucking class!!!!!😍

still life

Friday

he looked decent

old tanks not working so well for Russia

over 2 legs, not impressed with Jonathan David

boooooooooooooooom another super goal

Amadou Onana is that giant 1.95m 20yo DMF I have been looking at

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee super goal

Kai wrestled to the ground and no foul called, wtf

I hate all 3 of those MFers playing together