Chelsea chief joins Glazer family in £650m bidding race amid Blues 'civil war'

Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein and the Glazers are among the prospective bidders who are eyeing up one of the eight teams in the Hundred.

It's been outlined that the teams have been valued in excess of £650million following the first round of bidding, which closed on Friday. And there are some familiar names in the frame as the tender process continues.

According to , there were more than 100 bids placed for the eight teams, with some investors even indicating they would be interested in purchasing more than one franchise.

Goldstein and the Glazers, who still retain a major stake in , are among the most high-profile bidders. India's richest family, the Ambanis, are also in the mix.

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It's noted that the highest bid was placed by Sanjiv Goenka, with the Indian billionaire lodging a £140m bid for London Spirit. Oval Invincibles also attracted an offer in the region of £120m.

While it's unclear which franchise Goldstein is interested in, it's claimed the director has registered interest through the Raine Group. Any potential offer would have no affiliation to Chelsea.

The report goes on to outline that 'several members' of the Glazer family are interested. is not among them. The Glazers sold a minority stake in Manchester United to Ineos chief through the Raine Group last year.

Goldstein's involvement comes at a time where Chelsea's future is up in the air , with and Clearlake Capital co-founder Behdad Eghbali looking to buy the other out.

It's been reported that Boehly believes his working relationship with Clearlake Capital has disintegrated some two years after they took over the club back in 2022 amid fears that a 'civil war' is brewing at the club.

While Boehly and his partners are believed to have the funding required to buy Clearlake out, it's said that Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano - his Clearlake co-founder - are unwilling to sell and would resist any attempt from Boehly to buy them out.

Chelsea have struggled to meet expectations since being taken over back in 2022, though they did significantly improve on their 12th-placed finish in the 2022/23 campaign by finishing sixth in the last year.

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