Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich and the UK Government have reportedly found an agreement to go ahead with the sale of Chelsea.
This is coming after the UK sanctioned Abramovich and handed Chelsea a sporting licence to carry on with their football-related activities, but any sale of the west London club was put on hold, while fears they wouldn’t be able to finish the current season were also prevalent.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the two parties have now reached a deal in a major boost to the Stamford Bridge club.
The UK government regards a quick sale as the best outcome for Chelsea and its supporters, but for that to happen, Abramovich would have to agree to writing off loans of over £1.5billion without receiving any of the proceeds.
But that appears to have happened, with the report claiming the Russian oligarch has instructed Raine Group, the American bank, that paused the sale after the 55-year-old was sanctioned on Thursday due to his reported links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to continue the process of completing a takeover.
A deadline of the end of next week has been set for prospective new buyers’ first bids to be submitted, with Abramovich now hoping for a quick sale and Raine Group hoping it attracts more bidders.
However, the report added that a so-called ‘domesday’ scenario is also a possible eventuality and could come to become a reality if Abramovich cannot sell Chelsea and the sporting licence is not amended to allow less stringent terms.