Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has welcomed Roman Abramovich 's decision to put Chelsea up for sale and insisted a deal could be concluded "relatively quickly."
The Russian-Israeli billionaire has owned the Blues since 2003 and helped the club win 19 major trophies but his glittering reign at Stamford Bridge is close to an end.
Abramovich announced on Wednesday he had made the "incredibly difficult decision" to put Chelsea up for sale amid talk he could face sanctions from the UK Government given his proximity to the Russian state, though he is also understood to have been attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
