Chelsea Held In Front Of Prospective Owner, Todd Boehly By Wolves

Chelsea Held In Front Of Prospective Owner, Todd Boehly By Wolves

Chelsea blew a two-goal lead in front of prospective owner Todd Boehly as Wolves snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw, while Watford were relegated from the Premier League after defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Boehly has won the battle to buy Chelsea in a £4.25 billion ($5.2 billion) deal.

Roman Abramovich put the west London club on the market in early March, just days before he was sanctioned by the British government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

After a lengthy bidding process involving several groups, Boehly and his fellow investors were picked by Raine Group, the New York bank overseeing the sale.

Boehly’s consortium includes a fellow co-owner of the Dodgers baseball franchise, Mark Walter, Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss and US investment firm Clearlake Capital.

They still need to satisfy the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test and gain approval from the UK government, but Chelsea expect the sale to be completed by the end of the month.

After fears for Chelsea’s future were sparked by the protracted sale, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel welcomed the takeover, saying: “It gives us an outlook if terms are agreed and hopefully the process will be streamlined and go forward as soon as possible. Good news.”

But Tuchel’s third-placed team were unable to celebrate the deal with a victory as they squandered an opportunity to move closer to qualifying for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish.

Romelu Lukaku, who has endured a wretched season following his £97 million club record move from Inter Milan, converted a VAR-awarded penalty after he was fouled by Romain Saiss in the 56th minute.

The Chelsea striker followed his first Premier League goal since December 29 with another two minutes later.

This time he produced a fine 20-yard finish from Christian Pulisic’s cross as Boehly rose from his seat to celebrate.

But Wolves forward Francisco Trincao set up a tense finish when he hammered home from the edge of the area in the 79th minute.

And Chelsea cracked deep into stoppage time as Conor Coady nodded a close-range equaliser to leave Boehly shaking his head in frustration.

Chelsea are six points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, who play their game in hand at quadruple-chasing Liverpool later on Saturday.