Sir Martin Broughton and Todd Boehly have had their bids shortlisted in the auction to buy Chelsea, the PA news agency understands.

Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts family were also expected to make the shortlist being drawn up by New York merchant bank the Raine Group.

LA Dodgers part-owner Boehly, former Liverpool chairman Broughton and the Cubs-owning Ricketts now lead the race to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

Raine spent Thursday informing a host of unsuccessful bidders they were out of the auction before starting the process of confirming the shortlist in the race to buy the Blues.

The New York bank will dig into further details of remaining submissions once the shortlist is rubber-stamped.

US magnate Boehly and his Eldridge Industries firm has backing from Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and respected British business leader Jonathan Goldstein.

Former British Airways chairman Broughton has drafted in sports business and politics heavyweight Lord Sebastian Coe, adding genuine clout to his consortium.

Wall Street investment banker Michael Klein has added a major financial edge, with a number of other backers also involved.

The Cubs-owning Ricketts family boast the financial muscle of US hedge fund supremo Ken Griffin, believing their experience of renovating storied stadium Wrigley Field offers an edge in their candidacy given Stamford Bridge’s required rebuild.

Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire was then sanctioned by the Government on March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have proven his links to Vladimir Putin.

The Blues must operate under strict Government licence, with Abramovich unable to profit from Chelsea’s sale.

Downing Street must approve another new licence to authorise Chelsea’s eventual sale, with the money either frozen or distributed to charitable funds to aid victims of the war in Ukraine.

Abramovich has pledged to write off Chelsea’s £1.5billion debt and the bidding frenzy for the club could see the eventual deal hit £3billion.