Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe submits £4.25bn bid for Chelsea

Billionaire promises cash to ensure world's greatest players are on team's books

Another buyer has come forward for Chelsea Football Club. AFP

Billionaire businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe has tabled a last-minute £4.25 billion bid to buy Chelsea Football Club from sanctioned Russian Roman Abramovich.

The Ineos boss is understood to have held talks with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck and submitted what now represents the biggest offer for the Premier League club on Friday.

Ineos said they would aim to buy the world's best players, coaches and staff.

Other hopefuls Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Steve Pagliuca were all hoping to hear this week which of their consortium offers to buy the Blues had been selected as the preferred bid.

The 69-year-old, one of Britain's richest people, explored a previous bid for the Blues in 2019, only to buy French club Nice instead, but his due diligence on Chelsea there could expedite the process this time around.

An Ineos statement read: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25bn; £2.5bn is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75bn committed to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.

“This is a British bid, for a British club. We believe that a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition. With responsibility to the fans and the community.

“That is why we are committing to spending £1.75bn over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club.

The statement added that Ineos will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a “world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC".

“We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first-class squad of the world's greatest players, coaches and support staff, in the men's and women's games,” it continued.

“And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first class players.”

Ineos said London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city, one that “is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich”.

“We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game — not as a means to turn a profit. We do that with our core businesses,” it said.

“The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason.”

Sir Ian's late entrance adds another bid to the battle to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea will still hope to have a new owner in place by the end of May, despite any delays that come from Sir Ian's late entry.

Once the Raine Group selects a preferred bidder, the government must then grant a new licence to allow the sale to be completed.

Mr Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2 amid Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine.

The 55-year-old was then sanctioned by the UK government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven links between the Russian-Israeli billionaire and- Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Abramovich has owned Chelsea for 19 years, leading the club to 21 trophies in a glittering tenure.