Farewell to London: Roman Abramovich sells Chelsea
Source: dpa / Matt Dunham
World football is facing the biggest transaction in history. Roman Abramovich has announced the sale of Chelsea. The Russian billionaire wants to donate any profits to war victims in Ukraine. An 86-year-old Swiss is interested.
Nand it’s official. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who is said to be close to Vladimir Putin, has announced the sale of Chelsea FC. The 55-year-old confirmed rumors of the past few days and provided the report from the English top club with a surprise: the possible net profit should benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine via a foundation.
There shouldn’t be a lack of interested parties. As the “Telegraph” already reported, there should be three interested parties for the reigning Champions League winner.
Swiss billionaire is interested
The Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss is said to be interested. “I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich,” Wyss told the Swiss newspaper Blick. “I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much,” Wyss is quoted as saying. “I can well imagine joining Chelsea with partners. I’m definitely not doing this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.” Wyss (86) is one of the richest men in the world. The US magazine Forbes currently estimates his net worth at $5.1 billion.
It is not known what price Abramovich is demanding. The Stamford Bridge club is valued at around €1.9 billion. So it would be the largest transaction in the history of world football. Abramovich took over the club in 2003. In addition to coach Thomas Tuchel, the German internationals Antonio Rüdiger, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are also under contract at Chelsea.
The well-being of the club was always the focus of his decisions, Abramovich said, according to the announcement. In the current situation, selling is “both in the best interests of the club, the fans, the employees and the sponsors and partners”. There had previously been rumors of a possible sale. Abramovich had already announced last week that he would hand over the management of the club to a charitable foundation.
Since Abramovich took over 19 years ago, the former Chelsea lift club has won the English Championship and the FA Cup five times, the League Cup three times and the Champions League and Europa League twice each. The Blues recently triumphed at the Club World Cup for the first time.