Chelsea vs Wolves LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Coady snatches late equaliser

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says Mateo Kovacic is a “very important” player for the Blues and his full return from injury could prove decisive across the final weeks.

Quite aside from the off-field matters, there’s an FA Cup final on the horizon and still Premier League points to accumulate to secure a top-four finish, or third preferably for the manager.

Here’s what the boss has to say ahead of today’s match with Wolves:

Following is the process for the takeover of Chelsea Football Club after the English Premier League side said a consortium, led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital, had won the bid to acquire the club.

PURCHASE AGREEMENT

The Clearlake-Boehly consortium, which was selected by New York bank Raine as Chelsea‘s preferred bidder last week, will sign a binding agreement to acquire the club.

Chelsea‘s Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, cleared the path for the takeover on Thursday after he dismissed reports that he wanted the repayment of a loan to the club, reportedly worth 1.5 billion pounds ($1.85 billion).

SPECIAL LICENCE

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine but before Britain imposed sanctions on the oligarch, effectively giving the government control of the club.

The British government will issue a special license for any sale after receiving satisfactory evidence that Abramovich will not make any financial gain from the deal.

PREMIER LEAGUE OWNERS’ AND DIRECTORS’ TEST

After receiving the licence, the consortium will need to pass the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test before completing a takeover.

The test outlines requirements that would prohibit an individual from becoming an owner or director of a club.

These include criminal convictions for a wide range of offences, a ban by a sporting or professional body, or breaches of certain football regulations such as match-fixing.

MAY 31 DEADLINE

In March, Chelsea were issued a special government licence which allowed some exemptions to the asset freeze restrictions, in order to allow the club to fulfil their fixtures.

Chelsea need the sale to be completed by May 31, when the licence expires.

Todd Boehly

The Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner is the co-founder and chief executive of Eldridge Industries. Boehly set up the private investment firm in 2015, having flourished at Guggenheim Partners since 2001. The 46-year-old boasts a personal net worth of 4.6 billion US dollars according to Forbes. Boehly made a bid to buy Chelsea in 2019, carrying out significant due diligence on the Stamford Bridge club. That groundwork handed Boehly an edge this time around, with just eight weeks to race through a takeover that could take nine or more months under no pressure.

Clearlake Capital

Behdad Eghbali will act as Clearlake’s main voice in the incoming Chelsea ownership set-up. The Clearlake co-founder will tuck in behind Boehly but provides an important presence in explaining the US investment firm’s role in the new Stamford Bridge ownership structure. Clearlake’s majority stake in Chelsea could rise as high as 60 per cent, but the Boehly consortium is understood to have agreed to a number of clauses in the sale designed to protect Chelsea‘s future. Founded in 2006, Clearlake now boasts more than 72 billion US dollars of assets under management.

Mark Walter

The US tycoon is chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, which now holds more than 310 billion US dollars under management. Walter helped found the firm in the late 1990s. Walter has co-owned the LA Dodgers since 2012 when his investment group bought the baseball outfit for 2.2 billion US dollars. Walter’s personal net worth is rated at 3.3 billion US dollars by Forbes. Walter had a clear hand in the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series triumph and impressive administration, raising hopes of similar influences now at Chelsea.

Hansjorg Wyss

Swiss billionaire Wyss founded medical device manufacturer Synthes Holding AG. The Wyss Foundation has more than 2 billion US dollars in assets. Wyss is thought to be among the world’s biggest philanthropists, especially in donations to environmental causes. Wyss gained degrees from Zurich’s Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School. Stints in the textile, steel and aviation industries followed, before his switch to medical devices.

Worth noting that in just three hours, Chelsea are in actual on-pitch action as they face Wolves in the Premier League.

The Blues have won just once in the last four and need to rediscover form to ensure they retain their Champions League placing, with Spurs five points back in fifth. A win here today will go a long way towards letting fans look forward to next season with huge optimism.

Wolves on the other hand have lost three in a row and any hopes of European football for next term have rapidly faded - they need to finish at least seventh but are now eighth three points back from West Ham, albeit with a game in hand.

The match is at Stamford Bridge and we’ll have live coverage of the game for you right here.

Roman Abramovich will soon no longer be the Chelsea owner, with the entire sale process starting as a result of the government alleging proof of his links to Vladimir Putin amid the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

There has been no public message from Abramovich against the war, per AP’s Rob Harris, who also notes Abramovich’s past comments against antisemitism and racism.

What happened to Lewis Hamilton’s involvement, you might be asking?! A reasonable question, given the Formula One star suddenly and randomly found himself in the headlines over being part of one of the bids.

However, he’ll have no place at Chelsea when this deal goes through - the Mercedes icon was involved in the consortium headed up by Sir Martin Broughton, which effectively seems to have been the ‘runner-up’ in this particular race.

Hamilton and tennis legend Serena Williams were named as two sports stars each committing £10m to that bid, with the F1 seven-time champion saying it would be “the ultimate dream” to be part of a team taking over Chelsea.

That came in response to F1 rival Max Verstappen calling out Hamilton, who is an Arsenal supporter, suggesting it was “interesting” he’d buy a rival side and claiming he’d never buy Ajax himself, being a PSV fan.

Yesterday, amid reports of Roman Abramovich changing the terms of the deal and before Chelsea confirmed an agreement of sale, the Russian owner of the club denied any change of heart over selling.

Abramovich insisted his position over the sale of Chelsea FC is unchanged and has denied asking for any loan to be repaid to him.

Reports have suggested that Russian-Israeli billionaire Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK Government on March 10 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could insist on his £1.5billion loan to Chelsea being repaid.

In a statement posted on the Chelsea website, a spokesperson for the club owner, said: “Firstly, Mr Abramovich’s intentions in relation to gifting the proceeds from the Chelsea sale to charity have not changed.

“Since the initial announcement, Mr Abramovich’s team has identified senior representatives from UN bodies and large global charitable organizations who have been tasked with forming a Foundation and setting out a plan for its activities.

“The lead independent expert has had conversations with Government representatives presenting the structure and initial plans.

“Mr Abramovich has not been involved in this work and it has been managed independently by experts with years of experience working in humanitarian organisations.”

Full report:

US business tycoon Todd Boehly has agreed a £4.25billion deal to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the state of play at Stamford Bridge, including how the deal was agreed, what happens next and what might occur if the deal hits any problems before being completed.

Timeline of the Boehly bid:

It hasn’t been smooth or quick to get this sale process done, as you might expect considering the purchase is worth well over £4,000,000,000.

After the club was put up for sale by Abramovich in March, it wasn’t long before a whole pile of interested parties came forward, one of which was of course from Boehly and his group. Here’s a timeline of what they’ve had to go through since being shortlisted

25 March - Boehly and Martin Broughton bids shortlisted by Raine Group as one of up to four leading bidders

31 March - It was announced there was no preferred buyer before a round of ‘final bids’ for the club, with prospective owners invited to meet manager Thomas Tuchel

8 April - Boehly is joined by LA Dodgers partner Mark Walter in the bid to buy the Blues

11 April - Deadline for final bids to buy the club was set for this date and the government declared they were happy with all four remaining offers

16 April - The former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne was added to the group in an advisory capacity

29 April - After the Ricketts family had removed themselves from the running, a late £4bn offer came from Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe

1 May - Ratcliffe’s bid was still under consideration but by the start of the month it was clear Boehly’s offer was the big favourite

4 May - Chelsea fans urge a quick completion on any sale with their special licence to continue operating set to expire on 31 May

6 May - Thomas Tuchel reveals he was “confident” over the sale going through quickly after being updated on behind the scenes movement

7 May - Chelsea FC confirm a £4.25bn agreement signed with Todd Boehly’s consortium

Where do we begin with all this backstory, then? Let’s go for exactly who the soon-to-be new owner is first, for those who haven’t followed either his sporting businesses in America or the entire chain of events at Stamford Bridge.

A consortium led by the American businessman and investor Todd Boehly has been named as the preferred bidder for the club, which has been put up for sale by Roman Abramovich after the Russian was sanctioned following his country’s invasion of Ukraine. On Friday night/Saturday morning, it emerged that a deal has been signed by the relevant parties and he’s now set to complete the takeover across the coming weeks.

He has teamed up with fellow Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walters, British businessman Jonathan Goldstein, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and US investment firm Clearlake Capital. The group appears set to beat out three other shortlisted bidders, plus a late offer from Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Owner of Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise the Dodgers, Boehly graduated from William & Mary university in 1996 and also studied at the London School of Economics.

Here’s everything you need to know about Dodgers, LA Sparks, LA Lakers and DraftKings owner Boehly: