Report: What sources close to Saudi Media Group are saying with ‘serious’ interest in buying Chelsea

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A bid being readied by the Saudi Media Group to buy Chelsea will reportedly be extremely difficult to process.

According to the Evening Standard, there are doubts over the offer the Saudi Arabian consortium is apparently planning to submit.

Why would the Saudi Media Group bid cause problems?

This Saudi-led group has recently emerged as a candidate to take over Roman Abramovich’s empire, with a ‘serious’ £2.7 billion (Evening Standard) potentially on the table.

However, any deal for the London club must go through the UK government and the Premier League first, leading to more lines of inquiry into the background of the Saudi team.

They must prove to have zero links with the Saudi ruling family or with the owners of Newcastle United.

Sources close to the Saudi Media Group claim they are not tied to the Public Fund, proprietors of the Magpies.

Taking apart the Saudi-based plan will not be a quick procedure, but time is not on their side right now.

The final deadline to send over offers to the Raine Group, the merchant bank heading the sale of Chelsea, is this Friday.

If not the Saudis, who else?

Abramovich has already received a bid from the consortium of Todd Boehly, Hansjorg Wyss and Jonathan Goldstein in the region of £2-2.5 billion (Evening Standard).

Elsewhere, property developer and Blues fan Nick Candy, along with help from Sir Martin Broughton could also join the bidding war.

Several American charged assaults on Abramovich’s kingdom might wrestle with the other investors as well.

Hopefully, a more definitive answer regarding the next Chelsea owner will be revealed after Thomas Tuchel’s team play Middlesbrough in the FA Cup this weekend.

This particular fixture has caused a great stir, due to the Champions League holders requesting the game be played behind closed doors due to the inability to sell tickets to their fans.

Middlesbrough understandably declined the request.

Why should their supporters be punished for something they have no connection to?

I think I need a lie-down…

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