Chelsea news: Paul Pogba offers£45m contract advice as Boris Johnson gives Saudi Arabia
verdict
The Manchester United midfielder has labelled his international teammate N'Golo Kante as
the second most difficult midfielder he has faced behind former Liverpool man Emre Can.
With Kante's contract set to expire at the end of next season, these comments have come
as a timely reminder to Marina Granovskaia and potential new owners of the importance
the £45m rated man, as per Transfermarkt, is to any future successes of Chelsea who
are set to enter a new era without Roman Abramovich.
“Emre Can, Emre Can, yeah.
We obviously have N’Golo and everything, but one day I remember I had a big battle
with Emre Can," Pogba told FootballJoe when asked of his toughest opponent.
"But with Kante, you pass him and you think there’s another N’Golo because he comes
back so fast."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given his indirect approval to Saudi Media's Chelsea
takeover bid by talking about building a relationship between the UK and Middle Eastern partners.
This follows on from sports minister Nigel Huddleston's recent claim about Saudi Arabia
that will boost Saudi Media's hopes of a £2.7billion bid to takeover from Roman Abramovich ahead
of Friday's deadline for offers to be submitted to US investment bank Raine Group.
Saudi Media, which is run by Mohamed Alkhereiji, says that it has no direct involvement with
the Saudi state but earlier this week CBS Sports claimed that there is support in finding
funding and partners (but not financial backing) from Mohammed bin Khalid Al Saud.
Any direct involvement from Al Saud would lead to a conflict of interest that would
not pass the Premier League's Owners' and Directors' Test because a group run by the
Saudi state is already in charge at Newcastle United.
However, the consortium will be encouraged by what has been said by Johnson and Huddleston
regarding the relationship the UK is trying to build with Saudi Arabia and the need for
it to continue in a strong matter in the near and long-term future.
The Ricketts Family, owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball club, are the latest to confirm
that they plan to bid for Chelsea after linking up with billionaire hedge fund controller
Ken Griffin.
As first reported by Sky News, the Ricketts family will submit an offer to buy the club
ahead of Friday's deadline.
Raine Group, the US bank, is overseeing the sale process and will evaluate the best offers
before approaching government to have the terms of Chelsea's special operating licence
amended to allow a sale.
Yesterday football.london revealed that the government will not actively choose a preferred
bid once they have received proof that the disqualified owner Roman Abramovich does not
receive any money from the transaction.
Once those expectations are met and the terms of the licence are changed, the prospective
buyer will need to pass the Premier League's Owners' and Directors' Test.
Griffin, 53 and from Florida, runs Citadel Asset Management, a group that had previously
been in talks with property developer Nick Candy about a separate bid.
According to Forbes he is worth an estimated $26.5billion (£20.2billion).