Chelsea fan is 'one of leading people in race to buy Blues'

Nick Candy is among the frontrunners to complete a takeover of Chelsea as Roman Abramovich looks to pass the Stamford Bridge-based club into safe hands, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

Mega-money groups looking to buy the west Londoners are in a rush against time as the Raine Group, the United States bank tasked with handling the sale, have given potential bidders until tomorrow to lodge their offers.

Following his homeland’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian billionaire Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale earlier this month.

But Abramovich has since been sanctioned by the UK government and, as a result, had his assets frozen.

That development has not deterred Candy in his bid to gain ownership of Chelsea as it was revealed the property tycoon still has the intention of lodging an offer.

It has been revealed that former Blues player and manager Gianluca Vialli is working with Candy as he aims to take the west London club off Abramovich’s hands.

Candy has hired Vialli’s investment company, Tifosy Capital & Advisory, to prepare a formal bid of close to £2.5billion for Chelsea ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.

But Candy is facing stiff competition from a host of consortiums and billionaire businessmen, while it is understood that preferred bidders will have experience of owning major sports teams.

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O’Rourke believes Candy is among the leading contenders to replace Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea.

The journalist feels there is a distinct possibility that the 49-year-old will be chosen as the preferred bidder to guide the Blues into a new era.

O’Rourke told GIVEMESPORT: “I think Candy, who is a Chelsea fan, is by all accounts one of the leading