Todd Boehly could soon become Chelsea’s new owner after it was revealed that his consortium is set to be chosen as the ‘preferred’ bidder by Raine, the New York bank overseeing the sale process from current owner Roman Abramovich.

LA Dodgers co-owner Boehly leads the group that also includes Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, but their takeover bid briefly looked in trouble on Friday afternoon when British petrochemicals tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe suddenly confirmed a late offer of £4.25bn.

However, within just a few hours it had been reported that Boehly and his backers are on course to complete a takeover worth an estimated £3.5bn.