All three bidders to make ‘final pitch’ this week ahead of Chelsea decision — report

The three remaining bidders for Chelsea Football Club have all been invited to “make a final pitch” this week with a decision possibly coming down by the end of the week as to who our preferred next ownership group will be.

That’s the word from the Telegraph’s Matt Law, who adds that Raine Group have been “careful to give each of the three bidders equal time and opportunities” despite some rumors to the contrary. All three of the Boehly, Broughton, and Pagliuca consortiums are due to have held a final round of talks this week, “to make their pitches and answer questions surrounding their offers”.

While it still appears that the Boehly bid is the leading candidate, all three groups seem to have presented solid enough offers, with not much to choose between them — at least as far as we can tell from what’s publicly available.

The process, accelerated yet also frustratingly drawn out, remains on track for completion by end of May, which is when our current operating licence from the UK government expires. But if a winning bid is selected this week or next, perhaps we can be done with all these random restrictions before then.