Chelsea legend John Terry backs consortium as takeover talks gather pace

The former Blues captain has given his backing to the community offering that would see supporters able to buy into the set-up for as little as £100.

This comes following the UK sanctions placed on current owner Roman Abramovich which has led to a high-stakes race to purchase the club for a fee up to £2.5billion.

Alongside former Chelsea women's player Claire Rafferty, Terry has put his name to the group with the True Blues group already making contact with Raine Group, the bank overseeing Chelsea's sale.

As part of the plans, the consortium would elect one supporter to sit on the new Chelsea board, something that Terry believes would 'protect the club's history and heritage'.

Taking to social media, he wrote: "Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years.

"I want to see the club's history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with the like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is.

"Having met with and heard what The True Blues consortium is about, I know they understand.

"They're a group of lifelong Chelsea fans and season ticket holders who have created a concept that will complement and assist any preferred bidder running the club while adding fan connection and engagement with the board.

"This innovative structure is designed to be inclusive of all Chelsea fans and protect our club.

"I'm thankful for the Chelsea Pitch Owners and Chelsea Supporters Trust's time and support on this, and we hope we will be welcomed investors into the club's new structure."

With such uncertainty surrounding the club, Simon Jordan has fired a warning to supporters that a deal to take over Chelsea could see the club's level of funding dropping compared to the big-spending years under Abramovich.

He told White and Jordan: "The ownership model is changing, with a new direction of travel, which I think will be different.

"I don't think there's anyone who will come in behind this and turn Chelsea into a free-spending, profligate, cash-splattering machine like Abramovich did for 19 years."

He added: "Chelsea are in a situation now where they think, 'Who's going to do something similar?'

"None of these guys are. If it's an American owner, they won't do this.

"They are not going to continue to spend and underpin Chelsea's evolution. Americans don't do it.

"I find it difficult to believe somebody will pay £2.5billion for this football club. Nobody has ever written a cheque out for a club at this level, we're in uncharted territories."