Superblue

It's not a coincidence that some of Chelsea's best players throughout the Roman era have also carried low transfer values. That's not to say we should just look for budget signings. I believe Havertz will be an absolute top player in time and will repay that investment in him. But we have to start buying smarter. The biggest opportunity Roman has given us is the ability to absorb bad buys, with Lukaku unfortunately looking like the next in a long line of them. We may not have this anymore which makes it even more integral that signings will work out over time. Perhaps with new ownership comes a bit more longer term planning in the transfer market. The right player isn't available? Ok let's keep our powder dry and work with what we have instead of buying an alternative (e.g Lukaku) because they're available.

Cracking list. I'd add the attempt to secure Rudiger to a new contract to that too. Probably Azpilicueta as well. We need all the stability we can get at the moment and whilst he's no longer in his prime in a big game situation I'd still rather have Azpi in the back 3 currently over Trev. I'd also add to the working with the CPO to extend to the foregoing of the outstanding loan too.

As said previously, I was pretty certain there would be one or two bids that would come out after the bidding process that had not been reported at all previous. This looks like it could be a pretty serious contender on its face value.

Whilst I think the Broughton and Candy bids mean well, they very much seem like heart ruling head and both seem to be a bit of a scramble in terms of putting together the finance for a bid. Something as rushed as this - is it suitable for a circa £2.5bn bid for a football club? I still feel at the moment, the Ricketts and Boehly bids are the most solid and almost certainly well thought and mapped out as both have bid before and therefore must have done significant due diligence before.

Just to put some context on this, I haven't seen any complaints over City's owners converting so far around £1.4bn of debts into equity to keep their balance sheets looking healthy and 'sustainable'. There should be no reason why either (a) Roman can't do this himself prior to the sale, or (b) the £1.5bn of debt is included as part of the sale agreement (so £1bn for the club and £1.5bn to cover the debt). As mentioned a few times there's no way the club is worth £2.5-3bn and still hold a £1.5bn debt. If the debt were to remain, then the club should be sold for around £1bn and then the debt is paid off once sanctions on Roman are lifted. I don't understand these arguments, they make no sense whatsoever.

If you were getting a football club on the cheap then maybe but we're set to sell as the most expensive sports team in history. I struggle to believe that anyone prepared to purchase us for such a price will be happy to just have us ticking over. I think certainly for the Americans looking to buy us, we'll be viewed as a long term purchase. The stadium is a must for being able to drive revenue's in the future but I also believe the American's still see huge market opportunities with the Premier League, especially its exposure and marketability in the US. Who is to say that buying a Premier League club now is still 'early days' as an investment opportunity for more growth. We don't know how far the Premier League as a brand can continue to grow but so far it still continues to do so. I think anyone who comes in to buy the club should and would be given some time by fans. I think there will be a natural appeasement initially just by someone coming in and releasing us of these sanctions, especially if they can get this purchase done quickly and get match-going fans back into our matches. I think there are a few things which can be done pretty swiftly to get some good PR. Making sure Tuchel is secure in his post, tying down Rudiger (I'd also get Azpi signed up at this point too for now), arranging some positive discussions with the CST and CPO (relieving the CPO loan would be a nice gesture), public confirmation of continued support and investment in the academy and women's team. Some decent momentum can be built up by anyone coming in before the summer transfer window.

With the bits of news information being leaked in the last 24 hours regarding Candy and Coe, it just goes to show that even an owner on these shores could just as easily open up a can of worms. Not one will be perfect. I'm starting to believe the two American bids will be the most solid ones. From what has been reported both have made enquiries/bids previously for the club which means they have likely done significantly more research and due diligence than other parties who have had only a couple of weeks. Reports suggest both are well financed to prepare to sort out the ground, both will be prepared to invest in players and the club's infrastructure and both eye a lot of potential for growth in our commercial activities. I would also expect these deals to be able to go through extremely quickly which is also what we need right now. The Ricketts bid has a couple of red flags but the kids seem to have distanced themselves from their dad's comments regarding muslims and have made efforts within those communities to repair that damage. So long as the dad isn't directly part of the purchase, I don't see why this should be such a big issue. It would be like me being unable to get a job because my dad committed a murder or something of a similar nature. That should have no bearing on me. The more bigger red flag is that most Chicago Cubs fans aren't too enamoured with the Ricketts family. With their bid however I'm keen to know just what Griffin's influence is. If he's willing to bankroll the operation, it could be a completely different situation to the Cubs. Boehly's bid for me still seems to be the most sound from a financial position and seems perhaps the least controversial so far. He comes across very well, speaks very passionately and his track record with the Dodgers is positive. I think someone like this would look at the Liverpool model of trying to create a more stable environment in the coaching and playing staff at the club, but I also think if a player has been identified that fits the requirements, he won't hesitate to push the boat out to get that player.

I was at this game, 10 years old I think. When Di Matteo was running through the middle of the pitch everyone stood up around us and I had to climb up and stand on my seat to see over. By the time I'd done that the ball was just dropping into the net 🙈 Besides maybe the Champions League wins and the first Premier League title, this is right up there for me as one of the sweetest of them all.

With some of the main bids for the club being reported, I'm quietly confident that any of the likes of Boehly, Ricketts, Broughton getting hold of us, money will be there in the summer to be spent if required. I would expect Rudiger's contract to be one of the first priorities to a new owner, possibly followed by making sure Tuchel is secured (maybe an extension to his contract). But getting to the summer, I feel that even if some of the prospective owners want to try and reign the spending in a little in the future, they'll want to get fans on their side and usher in a new era, their own era, at the club and the way that will likely happen is targeting a couple of big signings to add to the squad.

I think we would just need to see what the plans are if they were to come in. The plans for the project under Roman looked incredible but there was an incredible amount of jumping through hoops for years, and the project is so complex it would likely be the best part of half a decade, maybe more with complications, that we'd be in a different stadium. At some point practicalities over aesthetics might be necessary for budgets, timescales, etc. The fact if any new owner could present us with the opportunity to have a modern, 60k seater stadium in West London would make it THE place people will want to go, events will want to take place, etc.

As said previously, I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone we haven't even heard about publicly yet who could have a serious bid in place. From those that have publicly been reported so far, I genuinely think the Saudi bid will prove too big a minefield to deal with. I don't think there will be an issue from the Government, but I do think there will be red flags with the Premier League tests which could delay proceedings and we don't have time for that. The Ricketts seem to be finding a lot of opposition regarding their political position and the dad's previous comments, emails, etc. I think they would likely be a pretty credible bid but such a negative perception of them definitely wouldn't help their case. The Boehly bid seems very strong. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being successful. I also wouldn't write off the bids from Nick Candy and Broughton/Coe. If either or both are well funded, I think they could offer something to Roman with regards to one final legacy. At the moment his reputation and ownership is being soiled and is in tatters and he may feel that these bids may be attractive to giving him some goodwill back as both have already suggested that they would look to move down a route that adopts a number of the principals of this fan-led review. Rightly or wrongly, being the first of the big clubs to adopt something like this could prove to be something pretty big in the future and may appeal to Roman to be seen as providing this to the club. Nick Candy has already came out tonight in response to his bid and from what he has said, the bid does look something potentially different. Things too like the writing off of the loan to the CPO which he has confirmed he will do, will add weight and support to his bid.

I would be surprised to see any of these potential new owners coming in and being as ruthless as Roman was with regards to managers. I would imagine they'd want a bit more stability and possibly be willing to give more time and patience. The ironic thing with this if it were to happen is we probably are in the best position that we've ever been during Roman's tenure to thrive on such stability with Tuchel and a large contingent of young talent and academy players coming through into the squad.

The irony of Arsenal fans who were begging Usmanov to buy the club from Kroenke a few years back. It's just proof that no matter how righteous you think you're football club is in arguments such as this, everything boils down to wanting to see your club be as successful as possible.

I don't understand how this is even a topic of conversation? One of the bigger reasons for Chelsea's high valuation will be the position of zero debt. Put the £1.5bn debt back into play and the club would probably be valued then at £800 - 1bn instead because of that. The fact that the club will be bought for a much higher price than Roman's loans makes this completely pointless. Either Roman could convert the loan to equity, before the purchase or the purchase could be structured as £1.5bn is to pay off the loans and the remainder for the club. It's no different to a small UK company having an owner with directors loans and then selling their business. Part of the sale will likely form part of those directors loans. The club has been compliant with FFP requirements since their introduction too so it's not like Roman's loans have created an advantage with regards to FFP requirements. It's such a nonsense assumption within the purchase.

A couple of things I've read about Ken Griffin, he seems to be a pretty big football fan but he's got no experience in the field of sports teams which is perhaps why he's decided it mitigates any risks if he's going in with someone who does have that experience. It has been reported that previous experience dealing/running a sports team would also be looked at favourably so it makes a lot of sense if this would be the reason.

From what it appears Joe Ricketts won't be involved in the Chelsea purchase, it's his son.

As we're getting closer to the Friday deadline, some more people and consortiums seem to be popping up in news outlets. I wouldn't put it past someone ending up with us who hasn't even been mentioned yet.

Making sure Tuchel is settled and getting Rudiger resigned are the two most important things, over any new signings this summer. If whomever the new owner is can sort those two things as soon as they're in place, I'll be happy to give them time and patience to see what their plans are for the club.

Reports are suggesting the Government will not be involved in the decision making process of the sale. Their primary concern is the money does not reach Abramovich. Assuming this is the case it comes down therefore to (1) Raine Group deciding the best deal, and (2) the Premier League approving the ownership. I think the Premier League one could be the sticking point. Newcastle took a long time to get their ownership approved, time that we don't have (although their links to the Saudi state due to the PIF fund are a bit more obvious and glaring than a privately owned Saudi company). However, again according to reports, the Raine Group have already put a number of stipulations in place including proof of funds, detailed background information on potential owners, consortium members, etc - this would suggest perhaps they are working with the Premier League to ensure a good amount of due diligence is done at this stage to speed up the whole process. If Saudi Media can prove all the requirements in their bid then I would expect it to be treated and considered in the same vain as anybody else bidding for us and if reports are to be believed they've bid the highest figure for us so far. The bigger issues will be media driven. They look ready to move on from Chelsea once the sale is done and take aim at Newcastle now. If we become Saudi owned we'll encounter the same issues and criticism even if our ownership shouldn't, at least on paper, be anywhere near as controversial if the ownership isn't linked back to the state. But we all know it doesn't work like that, the media have shown their position on our club in the last week or two.

For crying out loud Chels, I just want a quiet week to try and forget about the current situation and enjoy the Cheltenham Festival. I'll argue all day and night about how I feel the club is being unfairly discriminated against due to Roman's sanctions. It should be very simple for the Government to set up some form of independent regulation to work with us or monitor us or even manage our income and release only when required to help cover our costs during this period so we can carry on operating as normal. What the Government are doing with regards to ticketing policies is nothing short of a disgrace and spits in the faces of the fans who they are adamant they do not want to be punished. But the club loves to shoot itself in the foot time and time again. A statement today that says we have been unable to get Government approval to sell tickets, and we've even been unable to give them away for free during this period would have probably bought us a bit of favour within the media as it is the opposite of what the Government have tried to spin that they are sanctioning Roman and not the club. I've even seen that Peter Bonetti is supposed to have a memorial at Stamford Bridge this weekend and they can't even give tickets out for this. We could have really pushed some of this negativity over to the Government for these restrictions. But no we love nothing more than to stoke the flames even more. At present the fingers have to point to Bruce Buck. He is the club's chairman and the club's Premier League rep. Certainly in recent times with Roman's absence from the day to day running of the club, but even more so now he has to take responsibility for these things. From what I've read and when I've heard him speak I must admit that I don't like him. He comes across as extremely arrogant and I can see why that is also a perceived impression of the club from the outside when he is supposed to be representing us from board level. There's been too many PR own goals over the years and they just carry on. It is definitely something that needs to be addressed with the new ownership. There's ways of fighting your corner and sometimes you have to play the game, we seem awfully rubbish at doing so.

This is a much better piece from Martin Samuels and echoes a number of my own thoughts on some of the topics he brings up.

I think it felt better at the time because it was our first foray into the Champions League setup and as a result it was just thoroughly enjoyable rubbing our shoulders with some big teams (nobody forgets Dennis running off Maldini in the San Siro to slot home). I'm not sure how enjoyable we'd find it now, it would feel an incredible slog going through 2 rounds of groups I'd feel. Something surely has to give eventually within the club football calendar. Having said that, that is a far better option than the abomination UEFA are concocting up moving forward with one big league where it appears you don't even play all the teams in it (for competitive fairness how does that even possibly work?!)

Yeah from what I've read, they do look positive in a number of aspects and it sounds like part of their pitch is to continue investing into the academy and women's teams as they also want Chelsea as a brand to help promote women's and grassroots football in Saudi Arabia also. But it's still guaranteed Tuchel will be asked similar questions about Saudi Arabian laws and culture or anybody from Saudi Media sitting on our board will be subjected to the same. They may shown signs of progression themselves but would they denounce things happening in Saudi Arabia that the Western world doesn't like? It's complete hypocrisy but you know it will happen. You don't hear the American owners being questioned about police brutality or relaxed gun laws leading to mass shootings in America.

Yeah I've heard that may be the case although wasn't sure whether any were confirmed publicly besides Eriksson and Harder.