British billionaire Nick Candy remains interested in buying Chelsea and has pledged to install a fans' representative on the board if he completes a deal for the club.
Candy said he was "actively exploring" a deal after Roman Abramovich announced his intention to sell the club, before reaffirming his interest in purchasing the Blues after the Russian was hit by sanctions from the UK government in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea are now operating under a special sporting licence, barring them from negotiating new contracts or transfers and preventing them from making ticket or merchandise sales, although reports have suggested that the government may yet permit a swift sale of the club.
Despite the uncertainty engulfing the European champions, property magnate Candy announced via a statement that he remained interested in buying the club and would look to involve a fans' representative in the running of the Stamford Bridge club if he is successful.
"We welcome the news that the sale of the club will be conducted quickly," a spokesperson for the 49-year-old said.
"This is a reassuring development for fans after a week of great uncertainty.
"Mr Candy cares hugely about the future of the club and believes that the fans and the community are central to its continued success.
"Should his bid be successful, Mr Candy would advocate for a fan representative to join the board so supporters become part of the decision-making process.
"If the club requires money to operate in the short term, Mr Candy would be happy to help ensure it has the necessary financial resources, subject to government approval."
Meanwhile, Candy's representatives also confirmed that the lifelong Blues fan was to attend their Premier League match against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Other bidders to have made their interest in the Stamford Bridge club known include a Swiss-American consortium led by billionaires Hansjorg Wyss and Todd Boehly. The sale of the club is being handled by the US-based Raine Group, which set a deadline of March 15 for prospective bidders, though further bids are still expected to be made.
On the pitch, Chelsea have coped well with the turmoil surrounding the club, defeating Norwich City 3-1 in their last Premier League outing ahead of their home clash with the Magpies.
Meanwhile, former Blues striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who scored 69 Premier League goals for the London club, says he is concerned about what the sanctions could mean for Chelsea's season, but hoped to see an ambitious new owner arrive shortly.
"It is a big concern [the prospect of Chelsea not being able to finish the season]," the Dutchman told Sky Sports ahead of the Newcastle game.
"I don't think this is very good for the Premier League. I don't think it will get to that.
"When players hear that, it will be a concern as well. You want to finish the season properly and then you can assess.
"I do think Chelsea will be okay and will be bought by a new owner and it's an owner with the same vision that it has now."
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
Al-Hilal 3-1 Al-Ettifaq: Champions return to the summit with dominant win
Al-Hilal surged back to the Saudi Pro League summit with a convincing 3-1 triumph over 10-man Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
The defending champions are now one point clear of Al-Ittihad in the standings, with their latest victory piling more misery on Al-Ettifaq boss, Steven Gerrard.
Al-Hilal struggled in the early exchanges at the Kingdom Arena, registering their first effort on Marek Rodak's goal in the 38th minute courtesy of Marcos Leonardo.
But the hosts would take the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, with Mitrovic on hand to steer Renan Lodi's delivery into the net from close range.
Al-Hilal then doubled their advantage nine minutes from time when Malcolm collected the ball from Abdullah Al Hamddan, before rounding Rodak and finishing into an empty net.
However, hopes of a comeback from the visitors were revived in second-half stoppage time when Joao Cancelo gave away a penalty after a handball inside the box.
Vitinho stepped up and fired home the spot-kick, but Al-Hilal confirmed the win two minutes later through Mohammed Al Qahtani, with visiting forward Abdullah Radif shown a late red card for violent conduct.
Data Debrief: Happy Friday!
Al-Hilal continued their quest for a 20th Saudi Pro League crown with a dominant display against Al-Ettifaq, extending their unbeaten run against their opponents in the process.
They have now not lost their last 13 league encounters against Al-Ettifaq (W12 D1), surpassing their longest unbeaten streak against them in the competition (12 matches between 2008 and 2013 - W8 D4).
Al-Hilal have now lost only three matches when hosting teams on a Friday in the Pro League out of 55 matches (W46 D6 L3).
Lodi also took his goal contribution tally to eight this season in all competitions (three goals, five assists). During his European career with three different clubs, he only notched more goal involvements (nine) in the 2021-22 campaign with Atletico Madrid.
Kompany unbothered by modest scoreline as Bayern beat Benfica
Vincent Kompany was pleased with the way Bayern Munich attacked at home to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, despite only winning 1-0.
The victory ended a run of back-to-back defeats for the German team in the competition, leaving them 17th in the league with six points from four matches.
"It's important for us to win a game this way. In the past, we always scored three, four or five goals, but today we stayed calm," Kompany told the official club website.
"We had 24 shots on goal and the opposition had one. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game. There are games in which the last pass just isn't as precise as necessary.
"We know we can decide matches within the first five minutes if we're on good form. That didn't happen today. But in the end, it's the Champions League. It was a good game and a good win."
Midfielder Jamal Musiala scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute, turning home Harry Kane's knockdown after Leroy Sane had played the ball across the box.
Sane is yet to start a game in any competition for Bayern this season, coming on in the 56th minute on Wednesday, but his contribution was not lost on Kompany.
"Obviously, I'm really happy to have the quality of Leroy Sane and Michael Olise in the same position - not to forget Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. You can say Leroy turned this game around today," he said.
The goalscorer Musiala, meanwhile, was pleased after scoring his fifth goal in all competitions for the club this season.
“We had good moments, but the opposition played and defended well. Of course, there are still things we can improve, but it's important to have won the three points," he said.
"I don't know what's going on with me scoring headers at the moment. The ball dropped nicely for me a few times and I just keep trying to get into good positions I can score easy goals from.
"We all knew we had to win tonight and we did a good job. We had a tough time settling into the game, but we can't win by four or five goals every time. Sometimes a 1-0 win has to be enough.”
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