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British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe made a last-ditch effort to buy Premier League club Chelsea. Unfortunately, his bid came in a tad too late.
According to ESPN, Sir Ratcliffe came back with a whopping $5.3 billion offer to get the ownership of the English club from disgraced owner Roman Abramovich. That easily tops the bid made by the ownership group led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly for over $4.4 billion.
However, the deadline for bids has passed more than two weeks ago, with Sir Ratcliffe only hoping to take advantage of the delays in negotiations and talks between Chelsea officials and the final bidders.
Boehly's group has already been named the preferred bidder by Raine Group, the merchant bank handling the sale of the team as appointed by Abramovich. They are now in the lead to buy Chelsea as well.
As for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, ESPN noted that it could lead to problems if Raine Group were to seriously consider their late bid.
Sources have told ESPN there has been frustration at Raine Group's organization of the sale from within the other remaining bidders, and that frustration would likely grow markedly if Raine Group give serious consideration to such a late new offer.
It remains to be seen what will happen to Chelsea amid the intense battle to buy the club. By how things currently stand, though, Boehly could soon be the new owner of the Premier League team.
