Hello everyone and welcome to football.london's live Chelsea blog on Friday looking at the latest developments on any Blues takeover. It has been another hectic day of developments so stay tuned with us for by-the-minute updates.
Raine's decisions on who they deem as preferred bidders appear to now be dripping through, with a number of interested parties now finding out their fates. Saudi Media Group (SMG) have already fallen out of the race to purchase a controlling stake and others are set to follow. That does now quite mean they are out of the equation, though.
Whilst SMG are out of the running to complete a takeover, there appears to be plenty of other bidders who have been allowed to progress to the next stage, including the Ricketts family, Todd Boehly consortium and Stephen Pagliuca. It remains to be seen any of those can complete a £3bn deal to buy Chelsea.
READ MORE:Roman Abramovich statement issued by Vladimir Putin adviser as Chelsea takeover talks continue
With all of that being said, make sure you keep the blog locked all evening long so that you don't miss any of the big developments from Stamford Bridge.
State of play
Well, it looks as though there are now four confirmed bidders in the Chelsea takeover race.
Take a look at each of the contenders who progressed to the next stage, as well as a few who haven't managed to reach the next stage right here.
Candy problem emerges
Catalina Kim, head of South Korean company C&P Sports has announced her group has parted ways with Nick Candy, with the intention of joining another consortium for the Chelsea takeover.
She said in a statement: "We, the group of C&P Sports, Hana Financial and other strategic investors from South Korea, were suggested to join another Consortium. We thank Mr Nick Candy for our journey and wish him the best luck for his future."
Read the full story here.
Ricketts decision made
The Ricketts family have reportedly been informed that they are preferred bidders for Chelsea as the race to complete a takeover intensifies. Raine Group have already started to inform interested parties on the status of their bids.
Among those are the American famile despite severe backlash from supporters.
Read the full story here.
Good evening!
Hello and welcome to football.london's live Chelsea takeover blog.
Stay tuned for major updates throughout the evening.
