These are the interested parties in buying Chelsea from Abramóvich

The sale of Chelsea Football Club by Roman Abramovich is attracting a growing number of bidders for one of the most coveted assets in world football. The deadline for submitting offers is Friday.

The Russian billionaire put the London club up for sale following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the UK government to impose far-reaching sanctions on him for his ties to President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Whoever takes the reins of the club will face a difficult task: when Abramovich bought it for around 150 million pounds ($197 million) in 2003, Chelsea had not won the English top flight since 1955. Since his arrival, he has won 21 trophies, including five national titles and two from the European Champions League.

These are the names that are being considered to succeed Abramovich:

1. Todd Boehly

Former Guggenheim Partners chairman Todd Boehly made a bid for Chelsea in association with Jonathan Goldstein, a property developer who was involved in a bid for rival Tottenham Hotspur FC in 2014. Boehly made a bid for the club in 2019, but Abramovich turned it down, according to Dow Jones. Co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, he has just agreed to sell his company CBAM Partners to Carlyle Group Inc. for US$787 million.

2.Nick Candy

British property developer Nick Candy said he has the funds to bid for Chelsea and is in talks with potential partners to join in a bid. As a property developer, any offer could include plans for a new stadium. Chelsea fans would have a role in running the club if their consortium wins, Candy said.

3. Ken Griffin and the Ricketts Family

Citadel founder Ken Griffin has joined the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, to bid for Chelsea. If they stay with the club, they would join other American owners in the Premier League, such as the Kroenke family at Arsenal and the Glazers at Manchester United.

4. Martin Broughton

Martin Broughton is a former chairman of Liverpool Football Club and plans to bid for Chelsea, with funding from sponsors in the UK, US and Europe, Sky News reported. He is being advised by investment banker Michael Klein.

5.Josh Harris

The co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc., valued at about $7.6 billion, remains hesitant to make an offer, Bloomberg reported on March 8. If Harris, 57, is successful in his bid for the club, it would be the latest in a series of sports investments: He is already a minority owner of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and has stakes in the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. He is also considering a bid for the NFL’s Denver Broncos and owns a stake in another Premier League club, Crystal Palace FC. It is likely that he will have to divest himself of that stake to bid for Chelsea.

6. Oaktree Capital

Oaktree Capital, the US asset manager headed by Howard Marks, plans to bid for the London soccer club, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. His previous forays into football include providing debt financing to a Luxembourg-based company that owns Chinese retailer Suning’s stake in Inter Milan.

7. Woody Johnson

New York Jets owner and former US ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson is working on an offer, according to ESPN. He would be the fourth NFL owner to own a stake in a Premier League franchise if he buys Chelsea. Johnson, 74, is heir to the fortune of the Johnson and Johnson consumer products company. He has owned the Jets since 2000. The last time the team won more than half of its games was in 2015.