Chelsea potential ownership insight: The Ricketts family
Chelsea fans can once again focus their attention on things that happen on the football pitch, rather than off it, with the international break finally coming to an end. A lot has been said over the last few weeks about the goings-on in SW6, but whilst the war continues in Ukraine, the world’s attention must be on securing an end to the conflict. However, for Blues fans across the globe, the turmoil surrounding Roman Abramovich’s demise as Chelsea owner is still important and at the same time, disconcerting.
As the process to find a new owner continues, Abramovich has been attempting to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. Now is perhaps not the time to question quite how connected he is with the Kremlin, but over time, that will need clarifying. Right now though, it would seem that a change of ownership is going to occur and we must accept that, albeit reluctantly.
The Raine Group has been charged with finding a new owner and the process has so far been anything but smooth or clear. It would appear that there are four potential suitors for London’s premier football team. Whoever comes out on top will be very, very lucky indeed. It’s now time to mention the elephant-in-the-room with a deadline for second bids quickly approaching in April Being from England, the name Ricketts meant nothing to me, at least not until two weeks ago. Now, my Twitter timeline is adorned with #SayNoToRicketts. However, despite the negative hashtag, the word on the tweet seems to indicate that the family who owns the Chicago Cubs is the front runner in the race to pitch up at Stamford Bridge.
Financially, this would seem to be a good thing. The Ricketts are cash-rich and they have brought in financier Ken Griffin, whose wealth, according to Forbes, trumps that of Abramovich by three times. The Cubs may not have been as successful as Chelsea has over recent years, and that’s a bit of a worry, but since the family took charge in 2009, it has ploughed money into stadium development and the infrastructure around Wrigley Field. As we know, the Bridge is due for an upgrade, so all good thus far you might say. Nonetheless, with #SayNoToRicketts trending, questions need to be addressed.