Chelsea sale: Weeding of unsuccessful bidders begin

A string of bidders for Chelsea have been eliminated from the £3 billion auction of last season’s Champions League winners as the hunt intensifies to find Roman Abramovich’s successor as owner.

Sky News has learnt that a number of bidders including Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets American football team, have been notified that their bids for the London club had been unsuccessful.

Sources close to several bidders confirmed that they had been told on Thursday by Raine Group, the bank handling the process, that they were not being shortlisted.

Press Association reported that one of the unsuccessful bidders was the Saudi Media Group. Aethel Partners, another bidder which had announced its offer publicly, is also not expected to make it to the next phase of the process.

The rejection of Mr Johnson’s bid would, if confirmed, eliminate one of the apparent early frontrunners to acquire the Stamford Bridge side.

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Uncertainty surrounded the fate of a number of other prominent bids on Thursday afternoon, including those of Centricus, a London-based asset manager which only disclosed its interest publicly four days ago, and Nick Candy, the London-based property developer who has recruited a number of prominent financiers to strengthen his offer.