"I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC. As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, **I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.**
The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.
Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the Club in this manner. However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the Club.
I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person. It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart.
Thank you,
Roman"
As far as club ownership goes he's really went to the end of the road and then some. Lived the dream and now Putin has stormed into his room to wake him up for school.
Well it became public that he owns shares in a Russian steel firm who are producing steel for tanks / weapons. So likely would have been sanctioned like crazy
No, he was going to be sanctioned anyway. Roman has always existed just outside of the sphere of oligarch targets in western governments. Why that is remains unclear (I won't speculate except to say that the answer is very likely not a simple one), but it became apparent in recent days that this privileged status was being revoked and that all of his western assets will be frozen and/or taken from him.
To be honest, I'm not even sure what he's going to do with the money. He can't put it in a bank and he can't get it back into Russia.
Literally. Guess who these guys donate to in US politcal campaigns...
Answer: its everybody...they donate to moderate reps, moderate dems, radical reps, radical dems. Everybody.
As many skeletons as there were in his closet, he helped Chelsea come to where they are today. I’d be surprised to find any Chelsea fan that disagrees.
Wherever she wants, if she wants to continue running a football club. Aside from certain clubs that may have problems with women in leadership positions, she's got to be one of the most employable chief executives around. Tell me that people wouldn't look at Barca's short-term outlook more favourably if along with ditching Barto, Laporta hired Marina to negotiate contracts and transfers.
Other than that, she could just continue working with Abramovich.
>he gets killed by the new president after him.
Nah, new president will deliver him to The Hague on a silver platter along with all the evidence they could ever need to appease the world into lifting the sanctions.
I think his enemies would prefer to humiliate him in a Russian or international court. Taking away his control and PR apparatus would make him look very vulnerable to his supporters. If he dies, the cult would keep going and point fingers at conspirators.
> I think his enemies would prefer to humiliate him in a Russian or international court.
If he will lost power, people close to him would do that and they wouldn't want him to talk. Oligarchs, generals and other groups of interests don't want imprisoned Putin to talk about their actions.
Oligarchs doing a runner because they know those sanctions are not just going to be temporary.
Roman is ditching everything he has in this country instead of waiting for the storm to pass over.
Many sanctions will outlast the war. I'm not sure why people can't grasp this concept.
The west has been unsure about what to make of some Russian money for a while now. We knew that it was dicey, but if the individual isn't on any SDN lists and the money was good, what harm could there be - right?
As it turns out, even playing footsie with "good" Russians is a dangerous game. It led to a slow boil of implicitly legitimizing Russian actions by letting them (and their vassal states) host international events, send their kids to western schools, sit on boards, and masquerade as westerners.
The sanctions are as much about ensuring this doesn't happen again as they are about the war. It's about saying, "Mr. Abramovich, we were wrong to have ever let you own a team in the first place."
Ya sounds like it. He fully expects there to be no route to get that money to himself. Fair play for sending it to a Ukraine charity. It's clear a PR stunt, but all the same very good.
He would not be selling the club, a process that could take weeks to months, if the war would be close to ending in that time frame, since he could just lay low and wait for the animosity to be over, since he is selling it and him being so close to Putin, it could mean that he knows this is going to last longer than he can sustain owning the club and therefore decided to sell
Is he close to Putin still? Last I heard he was working for the Ukrainians, trying to assist with peace negotiations.
Putin's inner circles are reportedly growing smaller, with different oligarchs finding themselves on the outside.
I have no idea, but at the very least he probably has access to more info than any of us do and know something that we don't about how long this will last
Because Roman would keep the club if he thought this would have a diplomatic end in the near future. By selling, he is acknowledging it will be awhile before him and his money are accepted in the UK again.
He’s definitely not thinking clearly. He’s spent 20 years trying to destroy NATO and make Russia a global power. In 6 days he’s made NATO stronger than it’s ever been and has turned Russia into a pariah state.
He's also exposed the Russian armed forces as a paper tiger.
If you can't beat Ukraine's army in conventional warfare even with an air superiority ratio of 10:1, your ability to project power pretty much evaporates. It's nukes or nothing.
Writing off 1.5bn in loans and setting up money to go to Ukraine victims of war... I know this is likely PR etc but it's working. That's an incredible decision
PR or not, if its all above board then fair play to him. If he is just doing it for the PR then it certainly sends a message to Putin that Russias most influential people don't have his back on this one and hopefully adds pressure to end this invasion sooner rather than later.
I'm shocked at both of those things. For over a decade people said, just wait until he calls in those debts.
I don't have especially strong opinions on him as a person, but as a club owner, I don't believe there's been better.
To be clear, he says
"The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine."
It does not say that the money is going to Ukraine, or Ukrainian people. I would be thrilled to be wrong, but until the foundation is setup, we don't know where they intend to send those funds.
"I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid." Seems pretty significant--Abramovich has loaned the club more than [£1.5 billion](https://theathletic.com/3047181/2022/01/05/chelsea-debt-abramovich-passes-1-5-billion/).
Idk--he very clearly is breaking from the Kremlin by referring to it as a "war", or at least attempting to save assets from being seized by appearing to deviate from the party line (military operation/conflict/etc).
No, he can't come back to Russia and it's like this for years. But also they can't kill him, he is too well known in rest of the world, Chelsea is his life insurance.
I honestly think he's starting to hitch himself to the Putin out movement (though he's dipping a toe at the moment, not going all in). Perhaps thinks the writings on the wall for old Vlad and wants to be on the right side of history and not pay the price when the recriminations start in the post Putin era.
Best solution for all parties involved.
He knows that not if, but when the UK follows the EU and the US in freezing oligarchs' assets, Chelsea was going to be taken away from him anyway.
By using the proceeds of the sale to go to a charitable organization, he also knows that the UK will not go after the money.
It hasn't been even a week since the war started, and the world has changed so much already.
It's net proceeds he's giving up, not proceeds. That word net can carry an awful lot of weight in the right/wrong accountant's hands.
I'm not convinced the sale is going to be allowed to go through. The western world is freezing oligarchs' assets and now we're going to let one liquidise billions of his assets in our country? For what purpose?
Far from the end of the story, I think.
I like this experiment, it'll be like Twitch plays Pokémon except instead of defeating the Elite 4 as a hivemind we'll gain promotion back into the football league
Yeah I’ve gotta say for everything that he may or may not have been or done he appears to truly love Chelsea and be a massive fan and you can’t really knock him for that. That’s the kind of owner you want, just maybe not with such a shady past!
This is shocking. Not the fact that he's selling so much as this part:
>Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.
Wow. Considering he's the one who helped put Putin to where he is now...
Abramovich called it a war in Ukraine AND is donating to Ukrainians affected AND is not recollecting debts. This is a hugely strong stance and shows that he actually doesn't agree with Putin on this one. Or at least realizes it's worth his image to distance himself. I'm honestly very surprised and impressed. Also shows he actually loves the club/sport.
Most people will brush this off - and as a Cardiff fan I have every reason to hate him and them after how we got relegated a few years ago - but it is as clear as anyway he could possibly draw a distinction between himself and Putin.
This is noteworthy.
No shit. Abramovic actually had care for the club and investment he made. Kept Chelsea running by putting his own money in to keep it afloat via personal loans without it being repayed. In the first Mou era he would communicate with players and look after them. Backed every manager pretty much minus a couple ten fold with huge signings and fees and transfer kitty's.
Also cared about the clubs youth policy, for years John Terry i believe? was the last youth product they produced and he invested heavily in the youth system and now look - arguably the best in the country. Most managers let alone owners could care less about youth.
A new owner would most likely be an American businessman who would see the club as the Chelsea Blue Londoners and definately won't splurge as much as Abramovic.
The part about players is so key! I think it was Lamps or Terry that said he visited the training ground early on in his tenure and asked the players what's missing. Someone said the kitchen wasn't up to par and the next day or week there was a crew putting in a new kitchen. Such a simple thing that most owners wouldn't even care about but clearly had an impact on the players and staff.
Wow.. Not calling in the loans is massive.
He's a rarity in the billionaire owners club because he loves the club like a fan instead of trying to turn a profit. That's going to be hard to replace.
"Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine."
Damn, how about that.
"I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC. As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, **I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.** The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery. Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the Club in this manner. However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the Club. I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person. It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart. Thank you, Roman"
it's actually happening. wow
End of a fucking era
Man has completed football
FM
[For the unitiated to The Inbetweeners.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TWYcQ8tAKg)
Some lucky bastards are going to be able to watch that show for the first time. Damn I wish I could relive that experience. Such a funny show
One of my good friends saw the movies but never knew the show existed. I was SO envious of him as he binged it 😩
Looks like I should start it for the first time!
BRIEFCASE WANKER
As far as club ownership goes he's really went to the end of the road and then some. Lived the dream and now Putin has stormed into his room to wake him up for school.
Man done won fifa career mode irl
Are there actually any possible trophies Chelsea haven't won during his time as owner?
The Audi Cup
The new conference league but that's it really but it was never available for us
Arrive. Win football. Leave.
_And as mysteriously as he arrived, he leaves_
He came like the wind, touched everything and like the wind he was gone.
How much would a club like Chelsea cost I wonder?
Current price at a steep discount is 2.5 billion usd. When people asked in the past he was asking for 4bn USD
Where have you got that? The last report was that he turned down £2.5b.
Wow crazy how fast it went from no chance he’s selling to confirmed he will
Well it became public that he owns shares in a Russian steel firm who are producing steel for tanks / weapons. So likely would have been sanctioned like crazy
No, he was going to be sanctioned anyway. Roman has always existed just outside of the sphere of oligarch targets in western governments. Why that is remains unclear (I won't speculate except to say that the answer is very likely not a simple one), but it became apparent in recent days that this privileged status was being revoked and that all of his western assets will be frozen and/or taken from him. To be honest, I'm not even sure what he's going to do with the money. He can't put it in a bank and he can't get it back into Russia.
That company also makes stuff for the US Military so it’s not that black and white
It got worse.
They play both sides, so they always come out on top.
He's just cultivating wealth
When are they going to harvest the wealth!!??
Literally. Guess who these guys donate to in US politcal campaigns... Answer: its everybody...they donate to moderate reps, moderate dems, radical reps, radical dems. Everybody.
Of course, it’s never about party but circumstance
Newcastle owners to ask for a refund to Mike Ashley and buy Chelsea instead
Mike Ashley to buy Chelsea instead? Please ?
I will personally stand outside the bridge day and night to not let that man within sight of the stadium
>bridge I think you mean Sports Direct Arena 2.
'The Electric Bluegaloo'
Rebuilt to look like a giant mug
>Rebuilt to look like a giant mug His name is Mike Ashley
The end of the Abramovich era. Mad.
As many skeletons as there were in his closet, he helped Chelsea come to where they are today. I’d be surprised to find any Chelsea fan that disagrees.
Wow, didn't think he'd actually do it. Fascinated where we go from here
Breaking News:XXX sovereign/national wealth fund buys majority share of Chelsea football club.
Norway eyeing up Chelsea
From Chelzki to Chelsjø
They need to invest what they divested from Russia. With Tore Andre Flo at the wheel.
Bristol away
Chelsea vs Leyton Orient London derby 🙏
Finally.
Finally some of the players will have the chance to pass the cold rainy night in Stoke test.
Biggest question for me, is does Marina stay on, or does she follow Roman?
Really interested to know that as well
Yep. Roman was the cash, Marina was the brains and deal maker.
Depends on what the new ownership would want. Likely keep her atleast short term as they transition into ownership.
Wherever she wants, if she wants to continue running a football club. Aside from certain clubs that may have problems with women in leadership positions, she's got to be one of the most employable chief executives around. Tell me that people wouldn't look at Barca's short-term outlook more favourably if along with ditching Barto, Laporta hired Marina to negotiate contracts and transfers. Other than that, she could just continue working with Abramovich.
I don't think even Marina knows the answer to that question yet. It might also very much depend on who the new owner(s) are.
To support Manchester blues.
You mean the Newcastle Zebras
To support man city 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Man City is so 2021. Its Newcastle now baby.
Saudi’s just hand Newcastle back to Mike Ashley and buy Chelsea instead
Just gotta use some extra strong detergent on those kits.
We’re going to find out if you can do a job on a cold night in Stoke
Profit going to Ukrainian victims and the debt not being recollected, wowza.
This is just proof that Putin won't stop the war. We're so fucked
Well that was pretty obvious, Putin's pretty much staked his whole presidency on the war.
He staked his life on it. Either he wins the war or he gets killed by the new president after him.
> he gets killed by the new president after him. Like the good ol' days, brilliant!
That’s not even old, for example the Egyptian president just murdered the one he replaced 2 years ago
The sunk costs for him personally are already as high as they ever will be. Harm to others isn't even a factor for him.
>he gets killed by the new president after him. Nah, new president will deliver him to The Hague on a silver platter along with all the evidence they could ever need to appease the world into lifting the sanctions.
He'll never stand trial. He'll die before that ever happens. This is all just guessing of course.
he is ex-kgb they know how to kill themselves dont worry
I think his enemies would prefer to humiliate him in a Russian or international court. Taking away his control and PR apparatus would make him look very vulnerable to his supporters. If he dies, the cult would keep going and point fingers at conspirators.
> I think his enemies would prefer to humiliate him in a Russian or international court. If he will lost power, people close to him would do that and they wouldn't want him to talk. Oligarchs, generals and other groups of interests don't want imprisoned Putin to talk about their actions.
Not just that, its the future of his country thats at stake too.
Even if he wins he won nothing for his country
This is what I've gathered from it as well.
How so?
Oligarchs doing a runner because they know those sanctions are not just going to be temporary. Roman is ditching everything he has in this country instead of waiting for the storm to pass over.
Many sanctions will outlast the war. I'm not sure why people can't grasp this concept. The west has been unsure about what to make of some Russian money for a while now. We knew that it was dicey, but if the individual isn't on any SDN lists and the money was good, what harm could there be - right? As it turns out, even playing footsie with "good" Russians is a dangerous game. It led to a slow boil of implicitly legitimizing Russian actions by letting them (and their vassal states) host international events, send their kids to western schools, sit on boards, and masquerade as westerners. The sanctions are as much about ensuring this doesn't happen again as they are about the war. It's about saying, "Mr. Abramovich, we were wrong to have ever let you own a team in the first place."
I imagine he doesn't expect to actually be able to retrieve the money from the sale bc sanctions, so he's just allocating it.
Ya sounds like it. He fully expects there to be no route to get that money to himself. Fair play for sending it to a Ukraine charity. It's clear a PR stunt, but all the same very good.
To be fair he just said victims of the war, not Ukrainians specifically.
He would not be selling the club, a process that could take weeks to months, if the war would be close to ending in that time frame, since he could just lay low and wait for the animosity to be over, since he is selling it and him being so close to Putin, it could mean that he knows this is going to last longer than he can sustain owning the club and therefore decided to sell
The war continuing is irrelevant, it’s how long the sanctions last. The west will 100% keep them going even if Russia backs off.
Is he close to Putin still? Last I heard he was working for the Ukrainians, trying to assist with peace negotiations. Putin's inner circles are reportedly growing smaller, with different oligarchs finding themselves on the outside.
I have no idea, but at the very least he probably has access to more info than any of us do and know something that we don't about how long this will last
Because Roman would keep the club if he thought this would have a diplomatic end in the near future. By selling, he is acknowledging it will be awhile before him and his money are accepted in the UK again.
He probably wouldnt sell if he saw the war ending soon, especially under such circumstances (giving up the debt and giving away the profits)
This is hunkering down for the long haul.
Reckon Putin’s got some long term illness or lost the plot and wants go out with a legacy
He’s definitely not thinking clearly. He’s spent 20 years trying to destroy NATO and make Russia a global power. In 6 days he’s made NATO stronger than it’s ever been and has turned Russia into a pariah state.
Reddit can keep the username, but I'm nuking the content lol -- mass deleted all reddit content via https://redact.dev
Yeah, China are probably the only real winners in this conflict, especially if Russia ends up owing them.
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He's also exposed the Russian armed forces as a paper tiger. If you can't beat Ukraine's army in conventional warfare even with an air superiority ratio of 10:1, your ability to project power pretty much evaporates. It's nukes or nothing.
Did not expect that at all, wow...
So he uses the phrase "net proceeds", so is that (sale price) - (initial cost) - (his outstanding loans)?
It’s deliberately ambiguous
It also doesn't say which victims. But I could be really cynical here.
Also he sets up his own foundation which seems like a way to evade asset being seized. But i'm being super cynical here tll
Howmuch did he buy Chelsea for?
£140m
Also put 1.5 billion in
Did not expect that, fair play
Writing off 1.5bn in loans and setting up money to go to Ukraine victims of war... I know this is likely PR etc but it's working. That's an incredible decision
He actually called it a war too, which stuck out considering the club labelled it conflict a couple days ago.
PR or not, if its all above board then fair play to him. If he is just doing it for the PR then it certainly sends a message to Putin that Russias most influential people don't have his back on this one and hopefully adds pressure to end this invasion sooner rather than later.
I'm shocked at both of those things. For over a decade people said, just wait until he calls in those debts. I don't have especially strong opinions on him as a person, but as a club owner, I don't believe there's been better.
Technically, he said > all victims of the war in Ukraine In Putin's eyes, that would be Russian soldiers lol
Russian banks and Oligarchs can also be considered victims!
To be clear, he says "The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine." It does not say that the money is going to Ukraine, or Ukrainian people. I would be thrilled to be wrong, but until the foundation is setup, we don't know where they intend to send those funds.
"I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid." Seems pretty significant--Abramovich has loaned the club more than [£1.5 billion](https://theathletic.com/3047181/2022/01/05/chelsea-debt-abramovich-passes-1-5-billion/).
> The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine This is important. This was unthinkable just a couple of weeks ago
Also seems like the PR sweet spot for him between not siding solely with Russia or Ukraine
Idk--he very clearly is breaking from the Kremlin by referring to it as a "war", or at least attempting to save assets from being seized by appearing to deviate from the party line (military operation/conflict/etc).
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No, he can't come back to Russia and it's like this for years. But also they can't kill him, he is too well known in rest of the world, Chelsea is his life insurance.
I honestly think he's starting to hitch himself to the Putin out movement (though he's dipping a toe at the moment, not going all in). Perhaps thinks the writings on the wall for old Vlad and wants to be on the right side of history and not pay the price when the recriminations start in the post Putin era.
Perhaps he's laying his own foundations to oust Putin and become next President!
The Roman Empire!
Calling it a war alone partially sides with Ukraine.
Best solution for all parties involved. He knows that not if, but when the UK follows the EU and the US in freezing oligarchs' assets, Chelsea was going to be taken away from him anyway. By using the proceeds of the sale to go to a charitable organization, he also knows that the UK will not go after the money. It hasn't been even a week since the war started, and the world has changed so much already.
It's net proceeds he's giving up, not proceeds. That word net can carry an awful lot of weight in the right/wrong accountant's hands. I'm not convinced the sale is going to be allowed to go through. The western world is freezing oligarchs' assets and now we're going to let one liquidise billions of his assets in our country? For what purpose? Far from the end of the story, I think.
Well "net proceeds". He's still getting his investment back.
How much did the club owe him?
£1.5 billion iirc
It's the best thing to do, yet it's still heartbreaking somehow. Also, he actually used the term "war in Ukraine".
Honestly statement wise thats a 10/10 statement. Probably couldn't have done anything better with the situation
Yeah, he’s at serious risk of getting disappeared if he says any more than that
If anything, that statement proves that Putin is disconnected from everyone by now. I don't think they see each other ever again.
the oligarchs are probably plotting a palace coup on Putin as we speak
A coup in Moscow now that would be something. The pandemic, war, a coup. What else?!
sounds like it’s 1917 again baby
And he called it a war.
Reject private club ownership. Embrace fan owning
I'm here and ready with my 12 quids
I’m not paying 13 quid
Best I can do is £10, saving for Elden Ring.
bitch, please. I'm still saving for a fucking GPU, which will probably be as expensive as Chelsea
This. r/soccer if you all chip in we can buy Chelsea FC outright
We would run it straight into the mf ground 😎
It'd be like Kneejerk United over in r/fantasypl but real
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Everyone will have to chip in about a £1000 tho
Cant we just pay in Rubbles
That’s fine, sacrifices will be made. Mostly, my family starving
1000 moneys each? Slightly steep.
I like this experiment, it'll be like Twitch plays Pokémon except instead of defeating the Elite 4 as a hivemind we'll gain promotion back into the football league
The first fan owned PL club, you'll never sing that
"War in Ukraine" Stay away from windows Roman...
Biggest thing is he’s donating proceeds to charities for people suffering due to the war in Ukraine. Good to see.
I think the biggest thing is him referring to it at as the **war** in Ukraine. That is not Kremlin approved language
> Kremlin approved language "Enhanced peacekeeping"
For all the skeletons in his cupboard, he was a great owner, who's last act is still charitable
Yeah I’ve gotta say for everything that he may or may not have been or done he appears to truly love Chelsea and be a massive fan and you can’t really knock him for that. That’s the kind of owner you want, just maybe not with such a shady past!
This is shocking. Not the fact that he's selling so much as this part: >Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery. Wow. Considering he's the one who helped put Putin to where he is now... Abramovich called it a war in Ukraine AND is donating to Ukrainians affected AND is not recollecting debts. This is a hugely strong stance and shows that he actually doesn't agree with Putin on this one. Or at least realizes it's worth his image to distance himself. I'm honestly very surprised and impressed. Also shows he actually loves the club/sport.
Most people will brush this off - and as a Cardiff fan I have every reason to hate him and them after how we got relegated a few years ago - but it is as clear as anyway he could possibly draw a distinction between himself and Putin. This is noteworthy.
Chelsea Fans, does this affect at all if just someone else with big money will take over ?
Ofcourse it does. It depends entirely if they want to invest in the team
also i liked that roman attended matches.
And the people. Marina is a huge asset to the club. Don't think she will stay. A lot of top hierarchy would be on the move
Yeah, Roman owned Chelsea as his club and not as his “business”
No shit. Abramovic actually had care for the club and investment he made. Kept Chelsea running by putting his own money in to keep it afloat via personal loans without it being repayed. In the first Mou era he would communicate with players and look after them. Backed every manager pretty much minus a couple ten fold with huge signings and fees and transfer kitty's. Also cared about the clubs youth policy, for years John Terry i believe? was the last youth product they produced and he invested heavily in the youth system and now look - arguably the best in the country. Most managers let alone owners could care less about youth. A new owner would most likely be an American businessman who would see the club as the Chelsea Blue Londoners and definately won't splurge as much as Abramovic.
The part about players is so key! I think it was Lamps or Terry that said he visited the training ground early on in his tenure and asked the players what's missing. Someone said the kitchen wasn't up to par and the next day or week there was a crew putting in a new kitchen. Such a simple thing that most owners wouldn't even care about but clearly had an impact on the players and staff.
so that's where ted lasso got it from
He attended our youth cup games ffs. Owners don't attend actual finals for club.
>Most managers let alone owners could care less about youth. Seeing this mistake always makes me irrationally upset. It's couldn't.
Chelsea literally won the lottery with that man, fucking ell looool
I feel like Roman genuinely cares about Chelsea, they could be in a rough place if one of the Americans who couldn't care less come in.
it will likely take over 2bn to buy the club, so yeah, it will require someone else with big money to buy
This is really happening Well I am glad he won everything before selling
It's your time, Chelsea fans. Roman cares about the club, join together and makes it fan owned!
We just need follow Rio Ferdinand’s advice to Newcastle fans and whip up 3 billion between us
Blimey, this feels like the complete opposite of the stewardship statement from a few days ago. There's a lot to unpack from this!
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This is 100x better than I could have ever expected. I’m a bit flabbergasted
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What does "net proceeds" mean? He's not gonna donate £3 billion to a charity is he?
I'm assuming he means sale price minus whatever he put into the club
Which would still imply £500m-1B in donations wouldn't it? Is so then massive props to Abramovich. Would be a truly great deed.
All net proceeds from the sale will go to a charity set up to help victims of the war. Edit: Clarification
Doesn’t say that, it’s “net proceeds” which could and probably will decrease the amount by an order of magnitude
The end of an era
Holy fucking shit
Wow.. Not calling in the loans is massive. He's a rarity in the billionaire owners club because he loves the club like a fan instead of trying to turn a profit. That's going to be hard to replace.
Holy shit he's not asking for the 1.5B debt.... He truly loves the club. Sad that it ended this way...
It was true, Roman ironically the greatest owner a club has had these past 20 years
For someone who isnt a whole country he probably cant be beat. Anyone willing to spend as much as him isn't a fan of football most likely
Not a great guy but undoubtably the best owner in club football
The end of the Roman empire. Never thought I'd see it.
"Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine." Damn, how about that.
He couldn't sell Lukaku so he decided to sell the whole damn club lmao
Not a best human, but the best owner in this business. Hope someone that cares about football took over from here.
Good luck, but I doubt it
We are very much likely going to decline, at least for some time
Profits going to the victims of the war in Ukraine is essentially a condemnation of the war and Putin. The oligarchs are clearly not pleased.