Potential Chelsea owners in rush to finalise offers after Friday deadline set

Groups interested in buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich are rushing to ensure their takeover proposals are ready before the deadline to submit bids for the club arrives.

The Raine Group, the US bank tasked with handling the sale, have given potential bidders until Friday to make their offers and want the process to run smoothly given that delays could increase the chance of Chelsea falling into major financial trouble.

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Chelsea, who are in a state of limbo after Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government, fear that they could go into administration if there is no change of ownership soon. Raine remain hopeful that a deal could go through by the end of this month and, with time of the essence, bidders have been given a chance to look at the club’s latest set of accounts and wage bill. Groups who are serious about buying Chelsea are already doing due diligence before finalising their offers.

It is understood that as many as 200 groups have expressed an interest in doing a deal but Raine are conscious of the need to move quickly. Chelsea are operating under a restrictive special licence as a result of the sanctions imposed on Abramovich and they are desperate to avoid delays, particularly as any deal requires final approval from the government.

Bidders are being told that they will need to offer legal guarantees that they have enough funds to complete a deal. A consortium led by Hansjörg Wyss, Todd Boehly and Jonathan Goldstein have already submitted an offer in the region of £2bn and are waiting to hear whether they will be successful. There is also interest from Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, and the Ricketts family, who own the