Ratcliffe won’t give up Blues bid despite rejection

SIR Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to buy Chelsea has been rejected by the bank overseeing the Blues’ sale, writes the Press Association’s Nick Purewal.

However, Britain’s richest man has refused to give up on his attempt buy the Stamford Bridge club.

Ineos director Tom Crotty revealed Raine Group handed Ratcliffe a “rapid rejection” on his last-minute £4.25billion bid for Chelsea.

Petrochemicals boss Ratcliffe, inset, will continue to press to win the race to take the Chelsea reins from Roman Abramovich, though, despite that setback.

“We had a rapid rejection by Raine,” Crotty told the PA news agency. “But we’re still pushing as we believe we’re a good bidder who would be good for the long-term future of the club.”

Ratcliffe tabled a last-ditch bid to buy Chelsea on Friday, just as New York merchant bank Raine Group was preparing to confirm Todd Boehly’s consortium as the preferred bidder. Los Angeles Dodgers coowner Boehly’s bid has received that preferred bidder status, with the Eldridge Industries chief now forging ahead to try to complete a deal to buy the Blues.

Ratcliffe’s rejection from Raine has not deterred the 69-year-old from continuing to progress his candidacy to buy the west London club, however. Boehly’s bid has edged ahead of consortiums headed by Sir Martin Broughton and Steve Pagliuca.

Raine could yet turn to either Broughton or Pagliuca should any issues arise with Boehly progressing the purchase.

Lord Sebastian Coe has partnered with Broughton’s bid for Chelsea, with the World Athletics president adding political and sporting administrative clout to the ex-British Airways chief executive’s consortium.

While Coe conceded Boehly’s bid now has the edge, he insisted he remained committed to Broughton’s consortium should circumstances change. Coe told LBC: “It’s not the clearest of processes because all we know at the moment is that one bid which has gone into an exclusive negotiation. But there are other bids out there.”

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian-Israeli billionaire was then sanctioned by the UK Government on March 10, with Downing Street chiefs claiming to have proven his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Abramovich pledged to write off his £1.5billion loan to Chelsea on announcing the sale.

The Government is now thought to have raised fears over Abramovich’s plans to write off Chelsea’s debt, although Abramovich is understood to expect that be frozen when the sale is carried out.

Chelsea’s sale has a deadline of May 31, when the Government’s temporary licence for the Blues expires.

Chelsea fan Coe called for a swift resolution whoever the eventual buyer is, to allow the Blues to resume normal business.

“You can’t have this going on indefinitely,” said Coe. “There are all sorts of things that are at play here and particularly the performance of a team.

He added: “It’s really important this gets resolved. But it needs to be done carefully and properly.”

“We are not looking at it like a quarter-final, we are looking at how do we beat Saracens? It is just another game for us.”

Gloucester have justifiable reasons for optimism heading into the game after thrashing derby rivals Bath Rugby 64-0 last weekend and having beaten Saracens 25-24 away from home in the Premiership back in January.

“That was a good game for us but I think Sarries have moved on a bit since then,” Skivington said. “We haven’t been watching that game back saying look at how good this was. We have referenced certain parts of it but I don’t think it is massively relevant this week.

“What we did that day worked but it is a different time of year and there are different conditions. Certain things worked but the boys stuck to the plan that day really well, which was a massive thing for us.

“But we have got to look at the way Sarries are playing now.”

Skivington added: “There is a good belief in this squad now whoever we are playing. We have tripped up in the Prem a couple of times in the last month but that has not faltered our belief in what we are doing. It was quite easy to identify the reasons we didn’t get it quite right in those games.

“I think the one thing we have as a group is belief and the backing that you know your teammates have got your back.”