OREANDA-NEWS More than 20 investors, funds and organizations have expressed interest in buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich, a billionaire who has fallen under Western sanctions, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg write. According to their information, the deadline for submitting proposals expires on Friday, March 18.

Wall Street investors, billionaires from Saudi Arabia and the UK and other potential buyers lined up in a «long queue» behind the British football club, the WSJ notes. Among the main candidates from the United States is a group led by former Guggenheim Partners president and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boeli. In 2019, the businessman already offered Abramovich to sell the club, but was refused, the newspaper writes.

Saudi Saudi Media Group, which deals with broadcasting rights and advertising business in the Persian Gulf states, also submitted an application for the purchase of the team. The number of potential buyers of Chelsea grew so fast that at one point even MMA fighter Conor McGregor declared his readiness to purchase the club for £3 billion, however, analysts doubt the seriousness of his intentions, writes WSJ.

American Oaktree Capital Management is also considering the possibility of a deal or may participate in it as part of a broader consortium of investors, sources told the media. Earlier this week, the founder of the Citadel hedge fund, billionaire Ken Griffin, announced his readiness to buy Chelsea, having formed an investment group with the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball club, for this purpose.

It is expected that the transaction amount will be in the range of $2.5 to $3.5 billion.