The richest Briton, Jim Ratcliffe, is preparing to buy a French club in the middle of Chelsea's ties

Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire closely linked to a takeover of Chelsea, is in advanced talks for the signing of French club OGC Nice, according to reports.

The local newspaper Nice Matin claims that Ratcliffe made "significant progress" in its attempts to buy from Ligue 1.

He would have deposited an offer greater than 100 million euros that their owners should accept.

Ratcliffe attempted to buy the club from Fabruary, but an agreement was rejected at the last minute. President Ganaye Gauthier said her value exceeded the £ 77 million offered.

Yet he is now known to be about to succeed with a renewed deal while he's looking to bring the club to the next level.

Ratcliffe, who made a fortune with the chemical group Ineos, was closely badociated with a takeover of Chelsea.

Last year, he embarked on the sport by investing £ 110m in the British sailing team, before taking over the cycling giant Team Sky, under the new Team name Ineos.

He bought the Swiss group Lausanne Sport in 2017 and expressed his desire to increase his involvement in high-level football.

"I think we got our foot in the water with football," Ratcliffe said in an interview with BBC Sport last month.

"It's a very different sport. It's a pretty complicated sport and a complicated world, and we've been diving into the water.

"We are learning." We brought this club to Switzerland, and it's really informative.

"We have not achieved our goal in the world of chemistry and business by being impetuous, reckless and stupid, of course.

"We recognize that the world is very complex and we are following this learning process.

"We are in no hurry to go after the football match."

Nice finished seventh in the Ligue 1 campaign and is now looking to continue under the leadership of former Arsenal legend Patrick Viera.