Todd Boehly close to £3bn Chelsea deal

Roman Abramovich has said he will not keep a penny from the £3bn sale of Chelsea FC, as the club moves to anoint Todd Boehly as its new owner. Today marks the end of a five-day period of exclusive negotiations between Chelsea and the Boehly group, which is funded principally by the California-based investment firm Clearlake Capital, which will own about 60%, and also includes Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, London property investor Jonathan Goldstein and Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein. The sale was thought to be in trouble last week after Abramovich appeared to demand repayment of a £1.6bn loan. Chelsea has now proposed that the money is held in a frozen account by the government and a spokesman for Abramovich has issued a statement stressing that all proceeds are intended for victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition to the £3bn paid to buy the club, the new owners will be required to invest at least a further £1bn in redeveloping the Stamford Bridge stadium. The Times (£) The Guardian