Sir Jim Ratcliffe's bizarre behaviour in trying to hijack the sale of Chelsea before he bought Man United revealed in new Roman Abramovich book

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's brazen attempt to hijack the sale of Chelsea to Todd Boehly has been laid bare in a new book which includes claims about his theatrics in the club’s boardroom.

Britain’s richest man, who now part owns Manchester United, made a late bid to buy the Blues three years ago. That was despite Raine, the US bank handling the sale, having already whittled down an initial 280 expressions of interest to a shortlist of three.

One of those was the Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium, who eventually won the race, but only after Ratcliffe had apparently tried to gazump their offer.

According to the new book Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC, Ratcliffe called Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck the morning after a 1-1 draw with United at Old Trafford in April 2022 to request an urgent meeting. In that, it is claimed Ratcliffe tapped his chest repeatedly, telling Buck he had a piece of paper in his pocket with an offer for the club written on it.

Other consortiums had filed polished 140-page documents by comparison and it appears Buck’s attempts at coaxing the paper out of Ratcliffe’s pocket were futile, as the Ineos chief instead bigged up how his offer would be the only one made up entirely of British money. It is claimed Buck had to tell Ratcliffe they had already chosen their preferred bidder. Ratcliffe still requested a meeting with Raine that same morning, where he made a formal bid of £4.25billion, the same as the other three.

‘Buck, (Marina) Granovskaia and Raine were left with the distinct impression that Ratcliffe was convinced his status as the sole bid composed entirely of British money and personnel set him apart from all competition, by virtue of the Government’s oversight of the sale and required sign-off,’ the book claims.

Man United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe made a late attempt to buy Chelsea back in 2022

A new book claims Ratcliffe tried to convince Bruce Buck (left) to sell Chelsea to him, but the Blues ended up selling to a consortium led by Todd Boehly (right)

Ratcliffe's bizarre behaviour occurred after Roman Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine

This tallies with an Ineos statement released at the time, which stated: ‘This is a British bid, for a British club.’

However, Ratcliffe’s behaviour apparently angered the other bidders and, as warned by Buck, he was too late, with Boehly and Clearlake told they had been successful despite the last-minute disruption.

Also in the new book, released today, Roman Abramovich speaks for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced him into selling Chelsea.

He announced in March 2022 that he had no choice but to seek a sale amid accusations that he was an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, an allegation which led to the UK Government sanctioning him.

Abramovich sold up in May 2022, with the £2.5billion proceeds being put into a frozen bank account, supposedly for charities supporting victims of the war.

In a rare interview, Abramovich revealed how he wants to attend a Chelsea game so he can bid a ‘proper goodbye’ to the club.

‘Perhaps one day there would be a situation where I could attend a match and say a proper goodbye, but nothing more than that,’ he said. ‘I don’t have any interest in any role in a football club, certainly not a professional role.

‘There might be something where I could help with academies and youngsters, giving greater opportunities to people from difficult backgrounds, if there was an initiative that could make a difference.

Abramovich reveals in the book that he wants to return to Chelsea to say a 'proper goodbye'

‘But as for ownership or a professional role at a club, I am done with that in this lifetime.’

Abramovich also said he would not allow himself to be distracted by the accusations towards him, including from the Government.

‘There is an old Russian saying, “The dogs bark, but the caravan keeps moving” and that fits here,’ he told the book’s author, Nick Purewal. ‘Whatever I do, people always accuse me of some kind of agenda. In the end, I have done what I have simply to try to help.’

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