It’s a statement that has something to shake Gym supporters. Owner of OGC Nice since August 2019, Jim Ratcliffe said this Friday to the British newspaper The Times having submitted an offer to buy the Chelsea club, put up for sale by its Russian owner Roman Abramovich, close to Vladimir Putin and in turmoil since the start of the war in Ukraine.
An agreement could be reached in the weekend
“We made an offer this morning. We are the only British application. Our motivations are simply to try to create a very beautiful club in London,“explains the man who made his fortune in petrochemicals with his company Ineos. The offer transmitted would be 4.8 billion euros, an astronomical amount, and an agreement could be reached as early as this weekend according to British media. Jim Ratcliffe says he is ready to invest two billion euros over ten years to develop Chelsea. Before becoming the owner of OGC Nice, the Briton had already tried to buy the London club in 2019.
What about OGC Nice?
This takeover raises questions about Ineos’ strategy with OGC Nice. Acquired in 2019 for just over 100 million euros, the Gym could then find itself as a satellite club of the Ineos galaxy, like Lausanne Sport, another club owned by Ineos, which has seen many Aiglons arrive on loan for two seasons and whose sporting strategy challenges. Last in the Swiss first division, Lausanne Sport should go down to D2, two years after its rise.
Launched into an exciting end to the season, the Aiglons will have to stay focused on the ground and follow a sale from a distance which could therefore settle in the coming hours. the DailyMail indicates that in addition to Ratcliffe’s XXL offer, the owner of the Lakers (basketball) and the Dodgers (baseball) would also be a credible candidate for the takeover of Chelsea.