Chelsea are hopeful that the UK government will be able to temporarily hold the £1.6bn loan owed to Roman Abramovich in order to help them complete a takeover as soon as possible.
Before he was sanctioned, Abramovich had vowed to wipe off the loan but recent reports have suggested that he is now arguing that doing so is not possible because of the terms of his sanctions, with potential buyers concerned it could add huge delays to the buying process.
There have even been concerns that the sale could be dragged out for months and months, which would put Chelsea's involvement in next season's Premier League at risk.
However, The Times state that the actual sale process can still be finalised fairly quickly. The buyer, which looks set to be the consortium led by Todd Boehly, will pay £2.5bn to the government to buy the club and the belief is that officials will simply hold £1.6bn of that while the dispute is resolved away from Stamford Bridge.
The initial plan had been for the full £2.5bn to be handed over to charity, with victims of the war in Ukraine expected to be primary recipients, but the current suggestion is that 'only' £900,000 would be donated immediately and the remaining funds held separately.
It is believed that both Boehly and those in charge at Chelsea are confident that the sale will still go through fairly shortly.
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Abramovich lent the money to Chelsea through Camberley International Investments, a Jersey-based company, and he is now said to be trying to get that money back to the group.
The problem is that the sanctions forbid Abramovich from making any money from the sale of Chelsea, and at the moment it is not yet clear whether Camberley is owned by Abramovich, somebody close to him or a completely independent entity.
As far as the takeover goes, Boehly remains in a period of exclusive talks with Chelsea and is expected to be able to finalise the takeover in the near future, but other bidders remain on standby just in case talks collapse.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who lodged a bid well after the deadline, has warned fans not to give up on his bid and has reiterated his determination to get a deal done.
Source : 90min