Next Chelsea owner: Ruben Loftus-Cheek reveals what players are doing ahead of takeover deadline

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has said that the Blues squad are trying to put the takeover process to the back of their minds ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Crystal Palace. A deal for the club’s new ownership could potentially be set to progress over the coming hours, with a deadline for bids and official documents having been set by Raine.

According to reports from Bloomberg, any interested parties have until 10pm BST to lodge their official offers. As it stands, there are four parties interested in completing a deal for the Premier League club.

Consortia spearheaded by the likes of Todd Boehly; Sir Martin Broughton; and the Ricketts family all remain in contention. Stephen Pagliuca is also still attempting to complete a takeover. It remains to be seen who indeed will succeed Roman Abramovich at the helm but the coming days will certainly reveal who has made the final cut.

Roman Abramovich has already given Chelsea's new owners two clear instructions as takeover nears

With the deadline looming, there is certainly plenty of attention on the takeover - not that the players will be absorbing any of the furore. Loftus-Cheek has stated that Thomas Tuchel ’s squad are indeed focusing on their preparations for the weekend trip to Wembley.

Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, he said: “We try not to think about the off-field things too much to be honest, especially when you have a game of this magnitude to focus on.

“From now until the end of the season, we’ve got some really big games coming up and we can’t afford to have our minds on other things. We will stay tight as a group and that’s why we are able to focus on the task ahead and putting in strong performances like we’ve shown