Chelsea takeover: Sir Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams ‘pledge £10m each’ to buy London club

Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams could commit up to £10million each as part of the bid to takeover Chelsea Football Club, according to reports.

The F1 champion is said to be making the investment - despite being an Arsenal fan.

The sports superstars are making the investments as part of those backing the takeover offer for Chelsea spearheaded by Sir Martin Broughton, reported Sky News.

Broughton, the former Liverpool FC and British Airways chairman, is leading one of three parties bidding to buy Chelsea from sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly and Boston Celtics boss Stephen Pagliuca are also in the running.

Both Sir Lewis, a seven-time F1 champion, and Ms Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slams, are established investors in their own right.

It is said they have been in talks for weeks.

Sir Lewis, who is worth an estimated £218million, has previously invested in a range of start-ups including Zapp, a London-based rapid grocery delivery app.

It has previously been revealed Ms Williams, who is worth an estimated £191million, will be investing in the LA women's football club Angel City alongside Eva Longoria and Natalie Portman.

Under the consortium’s bid, American private equity billionaires Josh Harris and Dave Blitzer would hold a controlling stake in Chelsea through a holding company.

However, they would need to divest their minority shareholding in Crystal Palace if the deal were to go ahead.

Others reportedly involved in the bid include Canada's Rogers family, who own a media and telecoms company, as well as Taiwan's Tsai family, who own several baseball teams.

While the pair’s involvement was not expected, they are not the first sporting stars to back a Premier League club.

Basketball icon LeBron James has held a stake in Liverpool since 2011.

The bids will be considered by Raine Group, which is overseeing the auction on behalf of Chelsea’s board.

Raine will then recommend a preferred bidder to the government in order to secure a special licence approving the sale.

The arrangement comes after Abramovich's sanctioning by the government and disqualification by the Premier League as a director of the club.

He had purchased the side in 2003.