The process of deciding upon a new owner for Chelsea took a step forward on Thursday after a Saudi Arabian consortium was removed from the running. The Saudi Media Group, led by the Chelsea fan Mohamed Alkhereiji, was informed by Raine Group it would not be on a shortlist of preferred candidates. The US merchant bank Raine was employed by Roman Abramovich to facilitate a quick sale of the club after the Chelsea owner was hit with sanctions by the UK government following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Saudi bid was never considered a leading candidate because of concerns over proving the independence of any consortium from the Saudi state, a complication that caused a lengthy delay in the approval of Newcastle United’s takeover by the Public Investment Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. Saudi Media Group said it was completely separate from the state. The Saudis’ removal from consideration appears to signal that the Chelsea sale is reaching the end point. The frontrunners remain two American bids, one led by Todd Boehly, part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, and the other by Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who own the Philadelphia 76ers basketball franchise but are also shareholders in the Premier League side Crystal Palace, another potential complicating factor. Harris and Blitzer are part of a consortium that involves Sir Martin Broughton and Sebastian Coe. A third offer from the owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, the Ricketts family, is proving controversial because of the family’s association with the former US president Donald Trump and Islamophobic remarks made by Joe Ricketts. The Ricketts family has said it “rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms”. Raine Group is expected to select a shortlist of three or four bidders, with Chelsea and Abramovich choosing a preferred final option. That choice will next be referred to the Premier League for consideration under its owners’ and directors’ test. If that is passed the government will finally be asked to provide a licence to sell the club. What then happens with the money remains undetermined, but government sources insist funds will not be allowed to return to Abramovich.