Report: 49-year-old preparing massive offer to buy Chelsea, has plans to transform Stamford Bridge too

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Nicky Candy is reportedly putting together a sizeable bid to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.

According to the Daily Mail, the British property developer wants to offer £2.5b to the departing Russian ruler.

Furthermore, Candy could sweeten the deal with plans of a £1.5b refurbishment of Stamford Bridge, something Abramovich scrapped nearly four years ago.

This offer should be submitted by the end of the week, with the deadline for any proposals set on the 15^th of March.

Candy has apparently been speaking to a number of American investors in order to drum up the right figure.

Roman rallying the troops

Whilst £2.5b cannot be sniffed out, it does fall short of Abramovich’s £3b (Daily Mail) valuation.

However, Chelsea’s double-decade-long owner cannot be picky at this point in time.

He is in a race with the clock to sell his Premier League asset before potential government sanctions are put into place.

The queue of those trying to get into Abramovich’s castle continues to grow by the day.

A consortium of Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss are repeatedly being mooted as the number one contender, yet they will have to challenge several other wealthy figures.

Thomas Ricketts, chairman of the Chicago Cubs franchise, is apparently gathering together his family resources.

Vivek Ranadive’s name came up on the radar just yesterday, with the Sacramento Kings already in his pocket.

Another American-based proprietor showing interest is New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.

Cotton Candy

Whilst Candy wants the USA in his corner, he goes partly against the grain by being British.

The 49-year-old made his fortunes through developing luxury properties, mainly in the English capital.

American investors are said to be interested by Candy’s bid because of his knowledge of the property market, not to mention his headquarters in West London.

Also, he is apparently a Chelsea fan.

‘Mr Candy has a huge affinity with Chelsea. His father was asked to play for the club and he has been watching matches at Stamford Bridge since the age of four,” said a spokesperson for Candy.

Being a Blues supporter, he will surely want to oversee the refurbishment of Stamford Bridge.

Planning permission for a new 60,000-seater stadium had been granted in 2015, but Abramovich extinguished these ideas in 2018 after his UK investor visa was blocked.

Rebuilding the Bridge is seen as one of the top priorities for the new owner.

Get it done Candy, and the treats could be worth the slog.

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