Chelsea takeover: 'Mystery bidder' makes final shortlist
By Tom Gott
A currently unknown bidder is understood to have made the final shortlist of offers to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
The Raine Group are in the process of filing through all the offers, handing out plenty of rejections and very few approvals, with consortiums led by Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton believed to be the early frontrunners.
The final shortlist has not yet been decided, but according to BBC Sport, it does include one bidder whose interest has not actually reached the public at this point.
Not on the list are Saudi Media Group and the Blue Football Consortium led by Nick Candy, but their offers are not thought to be completely dead.
A statement from Catalina Kim, head of one of the Korean investors of Candy's group, read: "We, the group of C&P Sports, Hana Financial and other strategic investors from South Korea, were suggested to join another Consortium. We thank Mr Nick Candy for our journey and wish him the best of luck for his future."
There has yet to be an update on the bid from the Ricketts family. The Chicago Cubs owners have been in England meeting with a number of Chelsea fan groups in an attempt to build a relationship with supporters in the aftermath of the #NoToRicketts movement that has taken over Twitter.
Countless Chelsea fans have voiced their opposition to the Ricketts family in the wake of previous comments from the group on topics like Islamophobia and abortion rights.
The family met with the Chelsea Supporters' Trust recently but were unable to convince the fans of their ability 'to run an inclusive, successful club'.
"If they are unable to address these and gain the confidence of supporters, we do not believe it would be in the best interests of our members for the bid to succeed," the CST added.