British property developer, Nick Candy is working on a £2.5billion bid for Chelsea, which includes plans for a £1.5bn rebuild of Stamford Bridge, to be submitted by the end of the week.

The 49-year-old Chelsea fan is talking to a number of American investors about forming a consortium to launch a formal bid for the club.

Candy and his potential partners are understood to value the club some way short of Roman Abramovich’s £3bn price tag.  But a bid of £2.5bn would be regarded as credible in the circumstances, as the Russian looks for a quick sale given he faces being sanctioned by the Government as soon as next week.

The American billionaires who have been linked with a bid for Chelsea include Chicago Cubs chairman Thomas Ricketts, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Crystal Palace shareholder Josh Harris.

‘Nick Candy is actively exploring a number of options for a potential bid for Chelsea Football Club,’ a spokesperson for Candy confirmed to Sportsmail. ‘Any bid would be made in conjunction with another party (or consortium) and we have serious interest from several international partners.

‘Mr Candy has a huge affinity with Chelsea. His father was asked to play for the club and he has been watching matches at Stamford Bridge since the age of four. The club deserves a world class stadium and infrastructure and Mr Candy’s unique expertise and background in real estate would be a hugely valuable asset to delivering this vision.’

Candy would put some of his estimated £1.5bn fortune into the takeover bid, but he is also being courted by American investors because of his property expertise, headquarters in west London and knowledge of Chelsea.

Current owner, Abramovich, put the club up for sale after coming under heavy fire for reportedly having ‘close ties’ with President Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine.