Chelsea investors 'confident' a deal with Abramovich can be agreed by Monday

A Swiss-American consortium is leading the race to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich and the group are growing increasingly confident that a deal can be announced as early as Monday.

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss revealed earlier this week that he had been approached by Abramovich about buying the club and has teamed up with US tycoon Todd Boehly to launch a takeover.

According to Swiss newspaper Blick – who conducted the initial interview with Wyss – the duo have now found additional partners and are pressing ahead with their offer.

Their consortium team is now complete and already in negotiations with Abramovich, with American bank Raine Group also involved in the sale of the club.

The 86-year-old Wyss – who is estimated to have a personal net worth of $5.8billion – lives in the United States and founded the medical device manufacturer Synthes USA.

He will now fly from Boston to California – where Boehly is based – for the next stage of negotiations.

Wyss and Boehly’s consortium are confident that significant progress on a deal can be made over the weekend and an announcement could happen as early as Monday if talks go well.

Abramovich says he will write off the £1.5billion he is owed by Chelsea and the Russian oligarch – who could be sanctioned by the UK government – remains committed to offloading the west London club as quickly as possible, with a fee in the region of £3billion mooted.

Wyss told Blick on Tuesday: ‘Abramovich is one of Putin’s closest advisers and friends. Like all other oligarchs, he is also in a state of panic.

‘Abramovich is trying to sell all his properties in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.’

Given the size and complications of the deal, the prospect of Abramovich selling Chelsea so quickly seems unlikely, but Premier League CEO Richard Masters believes the takeover could be approved in less than 10 days.

‘I think the quickest one we have ever done is 10 days but that’s not to say that record cannot be beaten,’ Masters told the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday.

‘Normally it will take a number of weeks but that will depend on the complexity of the deal really and the number of potential owners.

‘Provided that the information is easily digestible, easily understandable and gives us the right answers, it can be done relatively quickly.’

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