Chelsea bidding deadline extended; Premier League approval sought for all four potential owners?

According to multiple reports, including from Sky News and the Telegraph, the deadline for final bids for Chelsea Football Club has been extended from early next week (Monday, April 11) to an unspecified date later next week (let’s call it Friday), citing fairness of due process or some such.

In turn, Raine Group and Chelsea are not expected to be making a final choice from the four until a bit later than April 18 as well, and in fact could seek Premier League approval (under their “fit and proper” ownership test) for all four potential owners before choosing one for the final governmental approval. In theory, that’s a solid move to avoid any last-minute tragic pitfalls (i.e. we choose one of the four and then the league reject them for whatever reason; the government approval is more of a formality).

The entire process is still expected to finish sometime in May, hopefully before the end of the season. Leaving Chelsea in this semi-frozen state beyond the end of the season could really start messing with our playing squad (contracts, transfers, etc), not to mention ensuring that we can remain viable financially, commercially, competitively.