Sir Jim Ratcliffe's offer to buy Chelsea was lower than the bids put forward by the other three consortiums looking to take control of the Premier League club, according to reports.
It had appeared that it was going to be a three-way race between a Todd Boehly-led consortium, a group led by former British Airways chairman Sir Martin Broughton and a bid led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca.
However, Ratcliffe made a surprise move by tabling a £4.25billion offer, which came to light on Friday.
This initially looked like a higher bid than his competitors, but this is not the case, as reported by The Times.