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John Terry is reportedly at the forefront of a consortium that is looking to purchase a 10 per cent stake in Chelsea for £250million.
Goal claim the Chelsea legend – along with former women’s star Claire Rafferty – are heading up the consortium called True Blue.
The report claims the bid will also allow supporters, players and ex-staff to buy fan tokens for more than £100, with voting rights coming in return.
Terry has been extremely active in promoting his Non-Fungible Tokens collection of ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ in recent months, though its value is said to have plummeted in value by 90 per cent.
However, the ex-Blues captain cannot fund a full bid to try and compete for total ownership of the club, even though Roman Abramovich looking to sell.
It comes with the Blues set to close their bidding window for control of the club at 9pm on Friday evening, after which offers will be whittled down to a shortlist of four potential new owners.
Goal claim another figure behind the consortium is Conservative party donor David Meller, a Chelsea fan who is invested in the idea along with his son Jonathan.
However, Meller’s involvement could attract controversy after it was claimed he benefitted from the government’s fast-track VIP lane for friends and donors of the Conservative Party to get PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic.
John Terry is reportedly at the forefront of a consortium that is looking to purchase a 10 per cent stake in Chelsea
Terry and former women’s star Claire Rafferty (front left) are reportedly heading up the consortium called True Blue
The bid could offer supporters the chance to buy fan tokens for more than £100, with voting rights coming in return
He was also the chairman of the President’s Club, a fundraising group that was shut down following a probe into allegations of sexual harassment at an event in 2018. Goal claim he has worked with the club in a charitable capacity already.
Harley Kisberg, founder of online media company iTech Media, and investment banker Stanford Loudon are also reportedly among other Blues fans to have become founding members of the consortium.
The report claims tokens will be handed out to forward Kai Havertz for his winning goal in last season’s Champions League final, while club captain Cesar Azpilicueta will be another current player to be rewarded for their impact on the pitch.
The plans have reportedly already been shown to leading fans ahead of an official announcement.
Terry cannot fund a full bid to try and compete for total ownership with Roman Abramovich (R) looking to sell
Conservative party donor David Meller is reportedly another person behind the consortium
The report claims tokens will be handed out to forward Kai Havertz for his winning goal in last season’s Champions League final
But they come after Terry’s NFTs dramatically decreased in value by almost 90 per cent in the last month, according to The Athletic.
They were going for prices averaging $656 (£497 after launch on February 2, but by March 8 the average price had dropped to $65 (£49).
A number of players are also said to have lost faith in the controversial scheme, including former Chelsea players Ashley Cole and Tammy Abraham.
The drop in value means anyone who had been inspired to purchase NFTs because sporting stars have endorsed them could lose huge amounts of money.
In January, the Premier League contacted Terry and told him to remove the Premier League trophy from his NFTs due to intellectual property laws.
Terry was also asked to remove the Chelsea badge as well as any FA and UEFA trophies that featured on the ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ collection.
The plans come after Terry’s NFTs reportedly decreased in value by almost 90 per cent
Terry was asked to remove the Premier League trophy and the Chelsea badge from his NFTs
Non-fungible tokens are a form of digital asset based on blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Terry has also caused a stir recently after he praised Abramovich as ‘the best’ following his announcement he had put the Blues up for sale amid his links to Vladimir Putin.
Terry captained them to 16 trophies under Abramovich – including five Premier League titles – and said on social media: ‘Thank you Roman. The Best Owner in the WORLD.’
However, the former Blues and England centre-back’s statement was criticised by MP Chris Bryant, who led the condemnation as following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘I think @JohnTerry26 you should take this down ASAP,’ Mr Bryant said. ‘The people of Ukraine are being bombed, shelled and murdered while you celebrate Abramovich.’
While Terry will not be among those looking to claim full control of the club, the bidding window for the relevant partieswill close at 9pm on Friday with a shortlist of offers set to be finalised by the start of next week.
Merchant bank the Raine Group, who are advising Chelsea with the sale, will call time on the bidding period at 5pm US time and start the process of whittling down the offers to a shortlist. Sources claim the shortlist will feature a maximum of four bids.
The urgency for a quick sale given the financial pressures Chelsea have found themselves since Abramovich’s sanctioning last week has been stressed to all parties involved in the process.
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