American billionaire Steve Pagliuca is flying to London to make his final pitch for the takeover of Chelsea.

The London Evening Standard says Pagliuca is flying into London for a face-to-face meeting at Chelsea as the race to buy out Roman Abramovich reaches its final stages.

All three shortlisted bidders have been invited to make final pitches as US merchant bank Raine Group prepares to put forward a preferred buyer to the Treasury.

Todd Boehly's consortium have already held talks at Stamford Bridge and Sir Martin Broughton is also due to run through his proposals one last time.

There is hope among the candidates that the process will come to an end this week, although they are still to be given any guidance by Raine over time frames.

There is an acceptance that the speed with which the takeover has had to be conducted – due to the UK Government sanctioning Abramovich over his links to Vladimir Putin – has meant for the shifting of parameters.

Raine has asked a series of “comfort questions" and demanded a commitment from each bidder not to sell the club for 10 years.

They have also asked for £1billion-worth of investment on top of the sale to ensure the ongoing success of the club.