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Twists, turns and tight deadlines: how Boehly’s Chelsea deal was done | Jacob Steinberg
One of the strangest, most politically charged episodes in the history of English football is finally over – here is the story of how it all unfolded
Chelsea can finally think about the future. One of the strangest, most unpredictable, most politically charged episodes in the history of English football is finally over. Roman Abramovich has left the building and Todd Boehly’s consortium has taken control of Chelsea after the UK government granted permission for the £4.25bn takeover to go through with a week to go before the club’s special operating licence was due to expire.
That date, 31 May, had loomed large in the diary. It felt fraught with danger when government sources suggested the deal was in danger of collapsing because of fears that Abramovich wanted to renege on his promise to write off his £1.6bn loan to the club. The wildest scenarios had Chelsea going bust if they missed the sale deadline and, given all the twists and turns over the past three months, it was not always easy to be entirely confident that the story was going to end with Boehly’s group promising to give Thomas Tuchel significant funds to rebuild his squad.
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