Report: 46-year-old could’ve been named the new Chelsea owner already had the Raine Group not held an auction

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Todd Boehly’s consortium might already be in charge of Chelsea had the Raine Group not held an auction for the club.

This is according to The Guardian, who claim the group fronted by the 46-year-old LA Dodgers owner could be at the helm by now if it weren’t for the sale process Raine has been handling.

Boehly’s bid

Boehly was one of the first out of the traps after Roman Abramovich announced his kingdom had gone on the market in early March.

The American quickly sourced the support of Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and then added British property developer Jonathan Goldstein to his squad.

Since then, Boehly has also brought on board fellow Dodgers owner Mark Walter, Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein, Barbara Charone and Clearlake Capital.

At nearly any other team across Europe, this particular party would probably have taken their seat at the high table long ago.

But Chelsea are no ordinary entity.

Instead of accepting the first offer that came his way, Abramovich wanted to see what various people were willing to spend on his empire.

Hence why Raine made applicants wait in line, before compiling a shortlist of four candidates.

Who else is battling Boehly?

Boehly understandably made the final cut, joined by efforts fronted by Sir Martin Broughton, Stephen Pagliuca and the Ricketts family.

Whilst Boehly remains the hot favourite to replace Abramovich, the other contenders are still firmly in the race.

Despite facing backlash from some Chelsea fans, the Ricketts family ploughed on with their plans, securing the finances of hedge-fund tycoon Ken Griffin and Dan Gilbert, head of Rock Entertainment Group.

However, it was announced today that the Chicago Cubs owners had actually pulled out of the race, but apparently not because of opposition from supporters.

Pagliuca’s noticeable investors include former Disney Chief Bob Iger, Facebook’s co-founder Eduard Saverin and NBA Chairman Larry Tanenbaum.

Broughton meanwhile has joined forces with Lord Coe, alongside the Crystal Palace stakeholders Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who also own the Philadelphia 76ers.

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