Chelsea's four prospective buyers have been given two key dates in the battle to take over at Stamford Bridge.
US brokers Raine have set a deadline of April 11 for the preferred bidders to make any changes, alterations or improved offers. That could be crucial as Roman Abramovich is believed to value the club at around £3billion and any successful bid is likely to have to be in excess of £2.5bn.
The next key date is April 18 as Raine are likely to take their No1 option forward to the Government for approval as that would be the stage when they ask for a special licence to complete the takeover. It could be completed by the end of April as Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has already said that they could potentially oversee a takeover within 10 days.
