Chelsea reportedly expect Roman Abramovich's sale of the club to go through with the UK Government set to keep the £1.6bn loan owed to their departing owner temporarily.
Fears have grown this week that Abramovich, who is selling his shares after being sanctioned by the Government in March over his links to Vladimir Putin, could renege on his promise to write off the loan and leave the Blues in jeopardy.
Doing so would throw a major spanner in the works for any potential takeover, as UK ministers approving the sale want none of the proceeds from it to go to the Russian.