Chelsea news LIVE: Ricketts family join Sir Martin Broughton and Todd Boehly bids on final shortlist

Hedge fund Elliott Management, which owns Italian side AC Milan, has joined the Nick Candy-led Blue Football consortium as a “minor investor” in their bid for Chelsea.

Candy has been urged to join up with one of the preferred bidders if his consortium is to be involved in the new ownership group.

• Saudi Media Group
• Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets
• London-based global investment firm Centricus/co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam and CEO Garth Ritchie

Ricketts family statement: “We have listened to all of your feedback – including from the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust – and are grateful that the door is still open for us to demonstrate our commitment to working with fans to protect the club’s heritage.”

Chelsea were handed a special licence once Roman Abramovich had his assets frozen by the UK government on 10 March.

That license allows Chelsea’s 800 staff to be paid with existing season ticket holders to attend matches home Premier League matches.

When the club has a viable bidder, they will need to upgrade their licence to push through the sale.

Abramovich values Chelsea at £3bn having bought the club for £140m in 2003 and lending the Blues £1.5bn in that time, though the Russian has stated he will not ask for any loans to be repaid.

Hakim Ziyech claims he has finally adjusted to Thomas Tuchel’s preferred system.

The former Ajax star joined the Blues in 2020, with Frank Lampard playing him mostly off the right.

But Tuchel has positioned Ziyech mostly through the middle, with his best form coming this season.

“[The system] affects me, of course,” Ziyech told ChelseaTV. “[The system] affects me, of course.

“Everybody knows that if I play wide, it’s my best position. When we play four at the back, most of the time I play on the right. When we play a back five, we play a different system. I think during the time since [Tuchel] came, I’ve adapted well.

“I think I had more problems that most of the players because I’d never played with a back five. I needed some time and I took that time to adapt, to learn from it and to improve. I think in that role, things are much better now than in the beginning.”

Saudi Media Group’s bid fell short of what Raine Group required to advance to the preferred bidder shortlist due to the nationality of the financiers meaning they would be subjected to a longer period of due diligence than rival bidders from the US or UK.

Their plan was also not to replicate the lavish spending of Man City or PSG’s owners, rather to replicate a Liverpool-like business plan, report Goal.

Language and cultural barriers could have meant a lengthier and more testing period to overcome prospective bidders from nationals of Middle Eastern countries.

Nick Candy’s bid to buy Chelsea has failed to make the final shortlist, report the BBC.

But the Blue Football Consortium may still have a future running Chelsea.

They have been asked to speak to other bids with a view to joining forces.

Chelsea’s outgoing owner Roman Abramovich was involved in early peace talks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has confirmed.

Abramovich, whose mother, Irina, was born in Ukraine, was one of several oligarchs whose assets worth billions were frozen in the UK. And now he has had his involvement in peace talks confirmed by a Kremlin spokesperson.

“He did take part at the initial stage,” Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, said on Thursday. “Now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians.”

A member of the Saudi Media Group has trolled Arsenal after his bid to buy Chelsea was rejected.

Khalid Al Khudair said he would consider buying the Gunners but only “if it was a charity case”.

He added after failing to make the final shortlist: “We did our best, disappointed, but we will continue to bleed #blue”.

Sir Martin Broughton’s consortium is primarily being funded by Josh Harris and David Blitzer - worth £4.5bn and £1bn respectively.

Harris and Blitzer are long-standing partners in sport and business over the past decade, co-owning NBA team Philadelphia 76ers after a 2011 takeover.

But with shares in Crystal Palace, the pair would have to sell to avoid a complication and conflict of interest.

Presumably they have already revealed their intent to sell given Broughton’s bid has advanced to the final shortlist, meaning an 18 percent stake of the south London team will be up for grabs.