John Terry leading crypto consortium trying to buy stake in Chelsea

It would allow supporters to buy fan tokens for more than £100

Ex-England defender John Terry is reportedly fronting a consortium that is looking to purchase a stake in Chelsea for £250million. As reported by Goal, the former Blues captain and ex-women's player Claire Rafferty are heading up the consortium called 'True Blue' that is looking to purchase 10 percent stake in the Blues. The report suggests that, should the bid be successful, supporters, players and ex-staff members will be able to purchase 'fan tokens' for more than £100, with voting rights coming in return. Terry has promoted his Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) collection of 'Ape Kids Football Club' in recent months. However, its value is said to have dropped in value by 90 per cent. As reported by The Athletic, several players - including former Chelsea players Ashley Cole and Tammy Abraham - have lost faith in the scheme after its value plummeted in recent weeks. It is thought that Conservative party donor David Meller - a Chelsea fan - his son Jonathan, Harley Kisberg - founder of online media company iTech Media - and investment banker Stanford Loudon are also among the other people involved in the consortium. https://twitter.com/AbsoluteChelsea/status/1504737127808094220 However, Meller's involvement in any deal could cause 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 during the pandemic. Goal claim that the aforementioned tokens would be given to Kai Havertz for his winner in the Champions League final last season and club captain Cesar Azpilicueta, for services on and off the pitch.

Any plans - which will reportedly be revealed at an official announcement - are unlikely to take place until after the club is sold, with the bidding window for the relevant parties closing at 9pm today (Friday, March 18).

Merchant bank the Raine Group, who are advising Chelsea with the sale of the club, will end the bidding period at 5pm US time and begin the next step of narrowing down the offers to a shortlist - which is set to feature a maximum of four bids. Prior to the upcoming sale of the the club, Chelsea Supporters' Trust released an open letter to the to prospective purchasers of the Blues. https://twitter.com/chelseastrust/status/1503717663201243142?s=21 Related links:

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