EXPLAINER: Bids arrive ahead of Chelsea sale deadline day

LONDON (AP) — For sale: One Premier League club. Condition: Distressed. Value: $2 billion-plus.

Deadline day is Friday for bids to be submitted to buy Chelsea and end the 19-year ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

This is a sale enforced on the oligarch after he was sanctioned by the British government for his close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

WHO IS BIDDING?

There has been a stream of bidders going public with their interest.

The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs, have linked up with hedge fund manager Ken Griffin in a consortium. The family fortune was made by Joe Ricketts as chairman of electronic trading platform TD Ameritrade. His son, Tom Ricketts, serves as Cubs chairman.

Anther consortium weighing a bid features Todd Boehly, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and Jonathan Goldstein, a London-based property investor who is CEO of Cain International. Danny Finkelstein, a columnist with The Times of London and who sits in the House of Lords representing the Conservative Party, announced Thursday he was joining the bid.

“These are smart guys, who don’t just have the money to invest, they get how to use it," Finkelstein said in a statement. “They understand about data and they understand about fans. I’m really excited about the plans for fan involvement which I believe in strongly. I want Chelsea to be pioneers."

Michael Broughton, the former chairman of Liverpool and British Airways, is leading a consortium that includes track great Sebastian Coe, who is president of World Athletics, an IOC member and a Chelsea fan.

British property developer Nick Candy has also expressed an interest in bidding and was very visible at Sunday's Premier League game against...