How Chelsea will make biggest decision in club's history with nine heavyweight bidders

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The decision will arguably be the biggest in the history of Chelsea Football Club.

US bankers Raine set a deadline of Friday as D Day when they will accept bids from consortiums, billionaire tycoons and interested parties before selecting a preferred bidder. Lifelong Chelsea fan Sebastian Coe, the mastermind behind the London 2012 Olympics, has paired up with Sir Martin Broughton and their consortium is certain to attract support from within Stamford Bridge.

But there is interest from British businessman Nick Candy as well as US sports owners from the Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers and New York Jets as well as public declarations for billionaires from Turkey, Ghana and Saudi Arabia. But the notion of going from a Russian oligarch to Saudi ownership amid the controversy at Newcastle might not be particularly attractive.

They are expecting at least six serious bids which may be whittled down before a decision is made about which offer is best to proceed. Even though Friday has been set as the deadline, the selection process is almost certain to go into next week and it could be drawn out for some time yet.

The deadline has been set for buyers to provide proof of funds, their vision and business plan and also a timescale of how long it will take to complete. It will be an exhaustive process to find a successor for Roman Abramovich who has been sanctioned by the UK