John Terry breaks silence on £250m Chelsea takeover bid as he 'welcomes investors'

RAINE GROUP are now sifting through a number of bids from prospective new Chelsea owners.

Posted Sunday, March 20, 2022 by Express.co.uk

Chelsea's Friday deadline for prospective buyers came and passed on Friday night and John Terry has confirmed plans to front a £250million consortium called True Blue to buy a 10 per cent stake in the club. News broke on Friday that the Chelsea legend, along with former Blues star Claire Rafferty, wanted to ensure that club fans will play a huge part in the new ownership.

The Chelsea Supporters Trust are demanding to see more fan representation at board level once the new owners come in and replace Roman Abramovich. Nick Candy is one of the only prospective buyers to state that he wants to give fans a 'golden share'.

Under the True Blue Consortium, fans will be able to buy in for as little as £100 as they plan to play a big role in the ownership of the club. True Blue officials have already made contact with Raine Group and Terry has now spoken for the first time on what he hopes for in the outcome of the takeover process.

"Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years," Terry said. "I want to see the club's history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is.

John Terry is fronting a £250m bid

"Having met with and heard what the True Blues Consortium is about, I know they understand. They're a group of lifelong Chelsea fans and season ticket holders who have created a concept that will complement and assist any preferred bidder running the club while adding fan connection and engagement with the board.

"This innovative structure is designed to be inclusive of all Chelsea fans and protect our club. I'm thankful for the Chelsea Pitch Owners and Chelsea Supporters' Trust's time and support on this and we hope we will welcome investors into the club's new structure."

The consortium does not have the funds to front up a full bid for Chelsea, thus the need to seek other billionaires to join their cause. It's been reported that Chelsea had a total of 27 bids come in before Friday's deadline.

The first group to go public on their interest in buying Chelsea were billionaires Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss. Chicago Cubs owners, the Rickeets family, have also made an offer along with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson fronting up a bid of his own.

London property developer Candy has linked up with Chelsea icon Gianluca Vialli to help raise funds. And it's hoped that a decision will be made imminently on who is chosen as Chelsea's new owner.