Roman Abramovich green lights Chelsea sale with deadline for bids now set

Roman Abramovich has given the green light to the sale of Chelsea Football Club despite being hit by sanctions from the UK government.

The Russian owner’s plans to sell the club had been put on hold following the UK government’s decision to freeze his assets amid his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine last month.

The Telegraph claim Abramovich has now instructed merchant bank Raine to handle the process of the sale and bids are now expected to be considered by the end of next week.

An initial deadline of next Tuesday had been set for first bids, but that is now set to be pushed back to the end of next week to attract more bidders and take into account the 24-hour pause.

Raine and Chelsea have agreed any bids and use of the funds will need to be discussed and granted approval from the government.

At present, three American-led groups are in the running to buy the west London outfit with Todd Boehly’s consortium already reportedly lodging a bid between £2billion and £2.5bn.

The Ricketts family and Woody Johnson have also put forward proposals, while British businessman Nick Candy is still in the running and remains keen on making a bid.

News of Abramovich giving the green light to go through with a sale will come as welcome news to club staff and fans, who discovered on Friday that Barclays has reportedly temporarily suspended Chelsea’s bank account following the sanctions.

As a result the west London club has been banned from transactions with UK individuals and businesses, but has been given special licence to continue to operate.

Under the special license, the Blues are still able to fulfil fixtures while staff will continue to be paid and existing ticket holders allowed to