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Race to own Chelsea hots up

British property investor Nick Candy increased his bid on Monday after the addition of another large international backer, a statement from his Blue Football Consortium said.

The lifelong Chelsea fan (aren't they all) is said to have improved on his £2bn bid after a large Korean financial institution joined his consortium over the weekend.

The Saudi Media Group is also reported to have submitted a bid.  While the Saudi Media Group are reportedly confident that they have no direct links to the Saudi Arabian government, senior figures in English football are said to have discussed the scenario that the Mohamed Alkhereiji-led group could be a front for the state.

They certainly have close links to the regime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Research_and_Media_Group

Britain's relations with Saudi Arabia could be said to be complicated.   On the one hand, we sell them arms and plead with them to pump more oil.   On the other hand, there are real concerns about human rights abuses.  President Joe Biden, admittedly in something of one of his foot in the mouth moments, described them as a 'pariah state'.

Interviews conducted with Chelsea fans at the Middlesbrough game, admittedly not a representative sample, suggest that many of them would prefer British owners with some suspicion being expressed about American bidders.

Others point out that they generally have more funds, particularly to redevelop Stamford Bridge.   One fan suggested that a bigger capacity stadium might have less atmosphere, but the match day revenue is needed for the club to continue to compete at the highest level.

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