Todd Boehly’s consortium is to be named as the preferred bidder to buy Chelsea.
It emerged on Friday that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, had tabled a last-minute £4.25billion bid to buy the west London club.
But it would appear the group headed by LA Dodgers part-owner Boehly – which includes backing from Clearlake Capital, a US investment firm – is in the ascendancy with regard to the takeover.
Chelsea have told the consortium led by Stephen Pagliuca, part-owner of the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Serie A’s Atalanta, it is not the preferred bidder.
Chelsea hope to have a new owner in place by the end of May.
Once the Raine Group selects a preferred bidder, the government must then grant a new licence to allow the sale to be completed.
Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.
The 55-year-old was then sanctioned by the UK government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven links between the Russian-Israeli billionaire and Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich has owned Chelsea for 19 years, leading the club to 21 trophies in a glittering tenure.