UFC star McGregor offers £1.5bn for Chelsea in bid on Twitter
UFC star Conor McGregor has taken to Twitter to submit an offer for Chelsea as bidders continue to line up for the club.
Roman Abramovich announced his intention to sell the club this week amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the longtime Blues owner saying he'll donate the money earned from the sale to aid Ukraine's rebuilding effort.
Several potential parties have emerged to say they've been interested in buying Chelsea, but not quite like McGregor, who made his offer via social media.
What did McGregor say?
McGregor originally said he'd like to buy the club last week, saying that he "wished to explore" the potential purchase of the club.
I wish to explore this. @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/ABEjjCqhD7
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 2, 2022
On Friday, amid reports that Abramovich will require a bid of around £3 billion, McGregor submitted an offer of half that amount.
While McGregor's true plan, or whether he'd bring in more investors, is unclear, the longtime MMA champion was Forbes' highest-paid athlete in 2021, making around $180 million (£136m).
More bidders emerge
Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak has also made an offer to buy Chelsea from Abramovich, with around 10 such approaches made in recent days.
There's a deadline for offers on March 15, and, as things stand, the early favourites remain the US-Swiss consortium headed up by Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss.
Bayrak, the chairman of AB Grup, a construction company, announced on Friday his desire to strike a deal to buy Chelsea, with a representative telling the Guardian: “Yes we definitely confirm. We have forwarded our offer regarding this to them.”
Bayrak’s interest first became known when he told Turkish media: “We are discussing the terms of Chelsea’s purchase with Roman Abramovich’s lawyers. We’re negotiating signatures. We will soon fly the Turkish flag in London.”