The four bidders vying to buy Chelsea have been given an extension to table their final offers for the club.
Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton, the Ricketts' family and Stephen Pagliuca all remain in the running, having submitted preliminary proposals to the group handling the sale, Raine, last month.
Now, Sky News note that Raine have informed the four buyers that they will have extra time to finalise their offers, with a deadline now set for 'the back half of next week'.
The belief is that the deadline has been pushed back to allow the bidders to be 100% certain of their proposal, given this is the biggest auction in sports history.
The process could be dragged out even further as Raine are understood to be considering delaying their recommendation to the UK government until all four bidders have received clearance from the Premier League.
League officials have been evaluating each bid since the final shortlist of offers was confirmed, but running checks on all four offers could see the process extend well into May.
Meanwhile, the Ricketts family have been working hard to improve their public image amid a wave of backlash from Chelsea fans relating to racist comments made by Joe Ricketts in the past.
Laura Ricketts met with the Chelsea Supporters Trust again on Thursday to stress her desire to build an inclusive team, having previously met with Chelsea Pride, the Chelsea Women Supporters Group and Kick It Out.
Source : 90min