Gianluca Vialli is working alongside Nick Candy in bid to buy Chelsea

Former Chelsea player and manager Gianluca Vialli has confirmed he is working with Nick Candy in his bid to buy the club. 

The British property developer has hired Vialli's investment company, Tifosy Capital & Advisory, to prepare a formal bid of around £2.5billion for Chelsea ahead of Friday's deadline for offers.

Candy is assembling a consortium of global investors, with Vialli's involvement likely to be well received by Chelsea fans. 

Tifosy - whose name is a play on the Italian word for fans - have worked on a number of of prominent bids for European football clubs in recent years including takeovers at Juventus, AS Roma and Inter Milan.

In a statement released to Sportsmail Vialli said: 'I am proud and feel very privileged to support Mr Candy's bid to buy Chelsea Football Club. 

'I have met Nick Candy on a number of occasions over the last few weeks and I am fully behind his visions and commitment to make Chelsea the most globally recognised and supported club in the world, as well as maintaining the ongoing success on the pitch.

'We share the same view that if the bid is successful, we will try to be the best possible custodians of the club, knowing that it is imperative that supporter concerns are front and centre of any owner's priorities. 

'I find Mr Candy to be an ambitious but realistic and very successful entrepreneur and I have been impressed by his enthusiasm and desire to start a new era for the club that we are both so incredibly fond of.

'I am pleased that an English businessman is leading a consortium that will bring diverse expertise and experience to the table, with the goal to make Chelsea a better club for the sake of the fans.'

News of Tifosy's involvement came on another frenetic day of