Chelsea's next owner must invest in the next generation says Tuchel

Chelsea's new owners could be revealed this week with Roman Abramovich and the Raine Group set to decide a preferred bidder from the three consortiums left standing at the end of a prolonged process, with the winner likely to be either the Todd Boehly/Jonathan Goldstein group or the Josh Harris/David Blitzer combination.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chelsea fan, George Osborne, was yesterday revealed as an adviser to the Boehly bid and a potential board member if they win. Osborne is a Chelsea fan and a season-ticket holder at Stamford Bridge. He works for the investment bank Robey Warshaw — and they have been brought on board to advise the consortium.

With Chelsea facing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, Blitzer and Harris are in the unusual position of watching the team they part own take on the team they are bidding to own, which means they would have to divest their shares, thought to be 22 per cent, in Palace before completing any deal for Chelsea.

With the dramatic withdrawal of the troubled Ricketts bid on Friday, only three groups have made it to the end of the process. Stephen Pagliuca, 55 per cent owner of Serie A side Atalanta, is considered the outsider given that he would have to sell shares in his Italian club and was the last of the group to contact fans, though he is backed by John Terry and a group of wealthy supporters.

Manager Thomas Tuchel has stayed out of the process, allowing him to focus on the FA Cup semi-final and securing qualification for next season’s Champions League. But he has made a plea that the new owners continue to invest in the Chelsea academy, which after 19 years is now bearing impressive fruit, with the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James. 

Callum