UK’s richest man in £2bn bid for Chelsea

BRITAIN’S richest man has approached Roman Abramovich to discuss buying Chelsea Football Club after the Russian billionaire’s future in Britain was thrown into doubt.

Jim Ratcliffe, 65, boss of petrochemicals giant Ineos, who is knighted today in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to business and investment, is understood to have offered about £2billion for the club.

It comes as Mr Abramovich, 51, struggles to renew his UK visa in the wake of Theresa May’s crackdown on rich Russians living in Britain after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

The Chelsea boss was reportedly incensed at not being allowed to watch his club play in this year’s FA Cup Final on May 1 and within days he applied for and was granted Israeli citizenship.

Downing Street has made it clear that he cannot work in Britain on his Israeli passport, although he can visit for up to six months at a time.

Mr Ratcliffe topped this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated wealth of £21billion. Ineos’s annual turnover is about £45billion and it employs more than 18,500 people in 22 countries.

A friend said: ‘Shelling out £2billion or so would seem like a drop in the ocean for Jim but at the moment he is torn about what to do.’

It is understood that Mr Abramovich has rejected the offer.

Chelsea said only that its Russian owner – worth around £ .3billion – remains committed to the club, which he bought in 2003 in a deal worth £140million.

Mr Ratcliffe is a Chelsea season ticket holder – although he also supports Manchester United – and already owns a football club in Switzerland.

The businessman, who grew up in a council house in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, was asked recently about his education and replied: ‘I just played football, really. That’s all I was interested in.’

Seven months ago he bought the Swiss club Lausanne-Sport for an undisclosed sum as part of his company’s commitment to local sport.

He owns a house near Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge base in South-West London. The stadium was going to be demolished and replaced but last week Mr Abramovich announced that the £1billion plans were being shelved in retaliation to the hardline attitude of the Home Office.

Mr Ratcliffe’s spokesman said: ‘We cannot comment on rumour and speculation.’