Sir Jim Ratcliffe's late bid to buy Chelsea FC has been "rejected out of hand", although the British billionaire remains interested in buying the club.
90min first revealed that Ratcliffe was among those considering a takeover back on 1 March, a day before current owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale.
However, having initially distanced himself from a takeover, the 69-year-old only decided to make his move on Friday - long after the 14 April deadline for bids set by the the Raine Group, who are managing the sale, had passed.
Perhaps inevitably, the owner of chemical company Ineos and Ligue 1's OGC Nice has been unsuccessful with his late move. Speaking to Bloomberg on Wednesday, Ineos director Tom Crotty said: "We've been rejected out of hand by Raine but we will keep reminding people we are still here."
It has been reported that Raine were unable to consider Ratcliffe's bid because he had not entered the bidding process at the outset, instead bypassing it and going directly to Chelsea with his offer, while he also liaised with the government.
90min understands that Ratcliffe is still interested in buying the Blues, as Crotty's words suggest. The British businessman has received encouragement from within the walls of Stamford Bridge to continue, and he holds out some hope that he could become the club's next owner.
A source with knowledge of the situation told 90min: "He wouldn't have gone this far if he didn't think there was a chance."
A consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly has emerged as the preferred bidder, with the American exclusively given until the end of the week to finalise the terms of an agreement to buy Chelsea.
There could be a major stumbling block, however, after it was revealed that Abramovich may be attempting to recoup the £1.6bn loan owed to him by the club, having previously said he wouldn't.
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Source : 90min