The consortium fronted by Stephen Pagliuca have been left mystified by a claim they are set to be eliminated from the Chelsea bidding amid fears over a last-minute dirty tricks campaign.

Sources close to Raine, the merchant bank in charge of the Chelsea sale, have privately dismissed a report that stated there had been a late change to the process that would see Pagliuca’s bid rejected this week and groups fronted by Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton go head-to-head for preferred buyer status.

Bidders are hoping to find out which one of them will be picked as Chelsea’s preferred buyer this week, with the Boehly and Broughton groups rated by many as the frontrunners.

But the Pagliuca group have been given no indication that they are set to be eliminated ahead of the other two remaining bidders and were surprised by the nature of Sunday’s report at such a sensitive time.

Pagliuca’s group refused to comment on the report, which claimed their proposal would be rejected because ‘it offers nothing new’, and refused to be drawn into what they believe is a dirty tricks battle, preferring instead to focus on their own bid and a desire to be honest with Chelsea supporters.

Raine and Chelsea have been keen for bidders to refrain from publicity wars or sparring and Sunday’s report is unlikely to have gone down particularly well with either party.

There was also a claim that the Boehly-fronted bid had scored an own goal by drafting in George Osborne to offer advice. The report stated that the inclusion of the former chancellor may not go down well with current chancellor Rishi Sunak, with Chelsea’s preferred bidder needing the green light from the UK Government.

Government and Raine sources were dismissive of such a notion, while the Boehly group refused to comment on the report.