Todd Boehly consortium signs purchase agreement to buy Chelsea

Todd Boehly has signed a purchase agreement to buy Chelsea, the PA news agency understands.

The Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner’s consortium bid for the Blues will now be put forward for Premier League and Government approval.

The Eldridge Industries chief executive was in London on Friday night, and was expected to attend Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Boehly leads the consortium bid, but US investment firm Clearlake Capital investment is expected to hold the majority stake.

The Boehly consortium is understood to have agreed to clauses that block the payment of dividends or management fees until 2032, also barring the sale of any Chelsea shares for 10 years.

The signed purchase agreement represents a major step forward in the Chelsea takeover, that has moved on apace since March 2 when Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale, amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich was then sanctioned by the UK Government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven his links to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

Russian-Israeli billionaire Abramovich has owned Chelsea since 2003, steering the club to 21 trophies in his 19 years at the Stamford Bridge helm.

The 55-year-old was understood to have viewed completing the clean sweep of global trophies with the Club World Cup title in February as the end of an era.

Abramovich insisted on Thursday that he still wants to write off Chelsea’s £1.5billion debt to him when the club’s sale is complete.

That loan cannot be written off under the terms of Abramovich’s sanctions however, and it is expected to be frozen on completion of the sale.

The club must be sold by the May 31 deadline, when the Government’s temporary licence