Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has decided that he wants to sell the London club in a multibillion-pound deal, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper reports that the Russian made the decision after failing to secure a visa to work in the United Kingdom this year.
Abramovich is said to be reluctant to continue investing in Chelsea because he can no longer legally work in England. The Sunday Times says that Abramovich’s failure to secure his visa is due to the Home Office cracking down on the number of wealthy Russians living in England following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.
Abramovich, who purchased Chelsea in 2003, has hired an investment bank to oversee a strategic review of the club. However, the paper’s report does state that a club source said it was “not for sale”.
OPINION
It is difficult to ascertain what to make of this report. On the one hand, it would make sense for Abramovich to be looking to sell the club now that he can no longer legally work in the country. On the other, the newspaper’s report comes to a screeching halt with the club source saying that it is not for sale. If any sale is completed, and if it amounts to Abramovich’s multibillion-pound target, then it would be a world record sale for a football club and would represent a healthy profit for the Russian. The Blues owner is clearly frustrated that he is no longer able to work in the UK, as he is seemingly being punished for something that has nothing to do with him. However, politics often results in collateral damage and it seems that Abramovich is one of those damaged here. Chelsea fans will presumably have mixed feelings about this news, with some bemoaning the potential departure of a man who has transformed their football club, and others keen to see a period of stability introduced without Abramovich’s tyrannical treatment of managers. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with this one.