US billionaire Woody Johnson has confirmed his failed offer for Chelsea.
Johnson owns National League Football franchise the New York Jets and developed a soft spot for Chelsea while serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom under president Donald Trump.
Johnson's proposal was believed to be in the region of £2billion but the Raine Group, the bank overseeing the sale, did not take him forward to the next stage of bidding. While he is the heir to the vast fortune of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical corporation and was attracted to the prospect of owning Chelsea, the 74-year-old harbours concerns over the "enormous" sums of money involved in the takeover.
"My interest in Chelsea is I'm a fan of Chelsea," Johnson said at the NFL owners' meeting in Florida. "When I was over there, I couldn't be a fan of a particular team. I had to be diplomatic. I had to like all the teams but we were Chelsea fans. It's London's team. The concept of New York and London, I thought was one that we could do pretty well with that. I thought it would be another interesting endeavour for us.
"Not getting Chelsea is disappointing but the numbers have gotten so enormous that on one hand I'm disappointed and on the other hand, financially, I think it's going to be a huge challenge."
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