Britain's Richest Man Sir Jim Ratcliffe Considers Bid To Buy Chelsea

Imagine being so rich that you can afford to buy two of Britain's most successful sports teams, that's the reality for Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe who could buy Chelsea on the back of buying cycling's Team Sky.

Team Sky are the most successful road cycling team in recent years. The team, that were sponsored by Sky television and were born out of the track team 'Team GB,' have won the Tour de France six times in their eight years as a team.

Last year Sky confirmed that they wouldn't be extending their deal to sponsor the team when it finished this year, leading to the possibility that the team would no longer exist.

Today it was confirmed that Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe had bought the team and they would become Team Ineos from May 1st and be launched at the Tour de Yorkshire on May 2nd.

However Ratcliffe's big spending could be about to continue with reports that he may also try and buy Premier League side Chelsea.

According to the Daily Mail, the 66 year old's approach to buy the club was rejected by Roman Abramovich last year and the Times report that he's still interested although refuses to match the Russian's £2.5 billion asking price.

Abramovich isn't actively looking to sell the club. Image: PA Images

The petrochemicals billionaire is thought to be worth nearly ten times the asking price for the west London club but the potential price of a new stadium, that the Blues are in need of, makes the current price of the club too much for Ratcliffe to want to spend.

Abramovich isn't looking to sell the club but he no longer holds a British visa and now lives in Israel. It has put on hold his previous plans of building a new stadium.

The billionaire, who now lives in Monaco, was born in Manchester and was a childhood Manchester United fan but now owns a season ticket at Stamford Bridge.

He has previously invested in Sir Ben Ainslie's sailing team with the aim of competing for the America's Cup in New Zealand in 2021.

With that experience and now the buyout of Team Sky it's clear that Ratcliffe isn't scared of the expectation of success or investing to make sure that it is achieved.

Would Chelsea fans be happy with a new billionaire owner?

Topics: Football News, Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea, Premier League, Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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