New frontrunners to buy Chelsea emerge, their total net worth double of Roman Abramovich's

The Ricketts family, the owners of baseball franchise Chicago Cubs, have teamed up with American hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin to prepare a bid to buy Chelsea.

They are joining an already large queue which already includes several suitors from the United States, as well as bidders from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.

"The Ricketts Family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, can confirm they will be leading an investment group that will make a formal bid for Chelsea Football Club this Friday," a spokesperson for the consortium said, as quoted by Sky News.

"As long-time operators of an iconic professional sports team, the Ricketts Family and their partners understand the importance of investing for success on the pitch, while respecting the traditions of the club, the fans and the community.

"We look forward to sharing further details of our plans in due course."

The Ricketts family's net worth is just over ₤1.5bn which would not be enough to bid for Chelsea, let alone to run it.

Ken Griffin, however, could be one of the most successful men in Wall Street history, having amassed a net worth of over ₤20bn. For comparison, Roman Abramovich's worth after the sanctions is just around ₤9bn.

Source: Sky News