Chelsea summer transfer plans in limbo following Abramovich decision to sell club
Chelsea’s summer transfer plans have been thrown into doubt following Abramovich’s decision to sell the club, with the Premier League side unlikely to be able to invest heavily in the summer window unless a wealthy new owner is found in the next few months.
The Russian billionaire has bankrolled the Blues since his takeover in 2003, with his funding helping Chelsea to win 19 major trophies during his reign.
Abramovich’s support has continued even since 2018, when he became a less visible presence at Stamford Bridge after withdrawing his application for a UK visa, with the west London side breaking their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku for £97.5m from Inter Milan last summer.
Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol answers the most pressing questions on Roman Abramovich decision to sell Chelsea.
The reason Roman Abramovich wants to sell Chelsea is because he is facing the threat of being sanctioned by the UK Government. If that was to happen, potentially all his assets in the UK could be frozen and he would lose control of the club. He’s already trying to sell £200m worth of property in central London, and his most valuable UK asset is Chelsea, so it makes sense he would try to sell the club as quickly as possible.
We had the situation yesterday where the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, stood up in the House of Commons and directly asked Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, why Abramovich had not already been sanctioned. Johnson said he could not comment on individual cases. So obviously while this threat of sanctions is hanging over him, it makes sense for Abramovich to try to sell Chelsea as quickly as possible.
At the moment, in the current climate, it would be difficult to sell Chelsea quickly. If you were trying to buy a flat in London or anywhere in the UK, for instance, right now you would be asked some very serious questions – where is the money coming from and where is it going to?
A lot of Russian banks have been sanctioned, so it’s very difficult to do business with Russian oligarchs or any Russian banks whatsoever. I don’t think it is going to be simple.
Speaking at the Financial Times’ business of football summit, Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, said: “I think the situation has escalated incredibly quickly over the last seven days and he’s [Abramovich] come to the right conclusion. It’s unsustainable in the current environment.
“So it’s a welcome decision and obviously, for the sake of everybody – including the fans – as soon as the sale process concludes, everyone has certainty.”
Masters said the quickest sale of a Premier League club was 10 days, but normally it takes a few weeks and depends on the complexity of the information involved – and in this case, it’s very, very complex.
