Chelsea’s Muslim players uncomfortable with Ricketts family buying club after racist emails resurface

Chelsea’s Muslim players would feel ‘uncomfortable’ should the Ricketts family be successful in their bid to purchase the crisis-ridden Premier League club.

The deadline for offers to be submitted is looming into view, with more suitors expected to formally register their interest before the 21.00 cut-off point on Friday.

Merchant bank the Raine Group, who will be advising Chelsea throughout the sale process which was triggered by the UK Government’s decision to seize Roman Abramovich’s assets, are set to whittle down the offers to a shortlist of four.

Earlier this week, the Ricketts Family – who own the American baseball team Chicago Cubs – publicly confirmed their intention to bid for Chelsea.

However, emails written by head of the family, Joe, in which he described Muslims as his ‘enemy’, resurfaced on Wednesday, sparking a backlash among Chelsea supporters.

Although Joe, and his son Pete, are understood not to be leading the American consortium’s bid, the Daily Mail reports that Chelsea’s Muslim players, which includes the likes of Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante, Malang Sarr and Hakim Ziyech, would feel uncomfortable were the Ricketts family to be successful and become the club’s new owners.

NOT AT MY CLUB pic.twitter.com/6Ww373AvCy

— Laurence (@LaurenceelliCFC) March 16, 2022

Rudiger’s future was already the subject of intense speculation, even prior to Abramovich being forced into selling the club he has owned outright since 2003.

The Germany international, who has emerged as a key part of Thomas Tuchel’s team, is out of contract in the summer and had been seeking parity with Chelsea’s highest earners.

Given Chelsea are unable to negotiate new deals with their players under the terms of the special license they are operating under, Rudiger now appears almost certain to leave amid interest from the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

The former Roma centre-half was part of the side that successfully navigated their way past Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday, but afterwards gave a vague response when questioned about his own future.

‘In the case of transfer rumours, it is well known that the media always like to add a little more salt and pepper to make the headline a bit more explosive and bigger,’ he said.

‘Accordingly, you will not hear from me until the day of the final decision. We still have a lot to do at Chelsea this season, and my full focus at the moment is on the City game. My agent is currently taking care of everything else.’