American businessman Michael Rubin has ruled himself out of the running to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
ESPN had reported that Rubin, who owns sports merchandise group Fanatics, was working on a bid as the Russian oligarch looks to sell quickly.
The 49-year-old has an estimated net worth of $8billion and already has minority stakes in the Philadelphia 76ers (basketball), the New Jersey Devils (ice hockey) and Crystal Palace.
However, a spokesperson for Rubin said: 'Michael has no interest in buying Chelsea. He is 100% focused on continuing to build the Fanatics business and is not interested in adding ownership stakes at this time.'
Ineos tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Egyptian businessman Loutfy Mansour are among other names to shut down speculation of succeeding Abramovich.
It leaves Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and Turkish billionaire Muhsin Bayrak as the two leading candidates to be Chelsea's next owner.
Boehly is working with Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss after forming a consortium and they are preparing to table a bid, but are not willing to meet Abramovich's £3billion asking price.
Meanwhile, Bayrak told Turkish outlet Yeni Safak: 'We are negotiating the terms of the purchase of Chelsea with Roman Abramovich's lawyers. We are in the negotiation phase for the signatures. We will fly the Turkish flag in London soon.
'We made our offer. Because of the war with Russia and Ukraine in the world. Because they find Turkey safe, they want to get most of the after-sales money in Turkey. We are planning to sign soon.'
Chelsea fans sang Abramovich's name during a minute's applause for Ukraine before the Blues' 4-0 win at Burnley on Saturday, but were blasted by Thomas Tuchel.
'It's not the moment to do this,' Tuchel said. 'If we show solidarity we should do it together.
'We take the knee together. If an important person from our club or another club unfortunately dies we have a minute of respect.
'It is not the moment to give other messages. It's the moment to show respect. We want to do this. As a club we need our fans to commit to this minute of applause.
'We do it for Ukraine and there is no second opinion about this situation. They have our thoughts and our support and we should stand together. It's not the moment for other messages.'