Chelsea Podcast and Q&A: Thomas Tuchel’s future and potential buyers after Roman Abramovich sanctions | Football News

Thursday was a seismic day in the history of Chelsea after their Russian owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government.

The decision to freeze the Blues owner’s assets, including his Premier League club based in west London, comes in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK Government says Abramovich has links to president Vladimir Putin, despite his denials.

Abramovich announced last week that he is looking to sell the club, but Thursday morning’s announcement means that process has been paused for now – and the ownership of the Blues is in the hands of the UK Government.

The big question is – now what? What lies ahead for Chelsea as a business and a community? What happens to the all-star squad that Abramovich helped assemble at Stamford Bridge? And can Abramovich still sell the club?

Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol joined The Essential Football Podcast to answer those questions and more…

Are the UK Government helping Chelsea?

“The government have bent over backwards to try and accommodate Chelsea because they’ve realised they don’t want to be responsible for sending Chelsea down and the ramifications that would have on the Premier League and the Champions League, so they’ve basically come up with this licence that allows Chelsea to carry on operating.

“If this was not a football club and just another business they would just be shut down, finished.

“As far as Chelsea are concerned the licence is very restrictive. They are not convinced they’ll be able to carry on and complete the season.

“Chelsea would like to sell tickets and keep their club shop open because they need money coming in. Chelsea’s wage bill is up to about £6m a week, so you have to think how long can Chelsea survive without money coming in, especially with the situation where sponsors are dropping out.

“Chelsea are saying to the government, ‘Look we know you’re helping us out and you’ve allowed us to carry on playing but you need to give us a bit more. Let us sell tickets and shirts because we need that to be able to survive’.

“But the good news for Chelsea fans is that there is no appetite whatsoever for Chelsea to be shut down. The government will do whatever it takes to keep Chelsea open and make sure they finish the season and make sure they get a new owner who’s going to look after the club.

“But if it’s not sold quickly then Chelsea are going to run out of money.”

Who could take over Chelsea?

“There is a lot of interest, especially from America. They all want a piece of the Premier League pie, which is why they’re so interested.

“I think a lot of these people will be thinking this helps us because from a reputational point of view they’re effectively doing this deal with the UK government and not doing the deal with Abramovich.

“I think a few days ago people were thinking, ‘Do I really want to get involved in a deal where the proceeds are going to end up in the pockets of a Russian oligarch’. Whereas now, if you buy Chelsea you’re almost the good guy because you’re coming to the rescue, helping out the UK government and the government are going to take the money and maybe donate it to the Red Cross.

“I’m intrigued to see what happens with people from the UK such as Nick Candy. He’s very interested, a Chelsea season-ticket holder and he wants to buy the club but is still putting a consortium together.

“The other one is a wildcard – Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who’s the richest man in the UK and worth about £17bn and even richer than Abramovich. He’s a Chelsea supporter and tried to buy Chelsea in the past but he always thought it was overpriced.

“I think that he may, even though his representatives last week told us he wasn’t interested this time around, that with the UK government involved and with a possible price drop, be a very good option for Chelsea, because he would tick a lot of boxes for the government.”

Could Abramovich sanctions quicken sale?

“In the long run this could be good news for Chelsea because they need to move on from Roman Abramovich. We’ve known for a while he has links with Vladimir Putin and there are question marks over how he made his money.

“Chelsea needed a new owner. Abramovich was not coming to the UK – I think in the past few years he’s been to one game.

“Now that he’s been sanctioned it means that process will now accelerate and it’s more likely they will get a new owner quickly because the government are now involved, because they don’t want to be responsible for having Chelsea on their hands. Effectively at the moment, the government run Chelsea.

“The most likely thing is that they will get a new owner and a fresh start, and that’s what Chelsea need.”

What about Thomas Tuchel’s future?

“Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes have been the only people from Chelsea who have actually fronted up and spoken to the media.

“Tuchel has found it frustrating at times but from what I know he’s 100 per cent committed to Chelsea. He’s not the kind of person who is going to bail out. I don’t get any sense he’s going to leave Chelsea at the moment.

“In the future, who knows? If this situation carries on and he’s forced to sell players, there’s no money coming in and there’s a transfer embargo then he would have a difficult decision to make in the summer, but we’re not at that point yet.

“Knowing the kind of character Tuchel is, he’s not the kind of person who’s going to walk out on Chelsea.”

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Why has the UK Government punished Roman Abramovich?

“For the past couple of weeks, the UK government have asked the National Crime Agency to find a link between Roman Abramovich and Vladimir Putin.

“They needed to prove beyond doubt that Abramovich was close to Putin, and obviously they have that evidence now and have been able to freeze his assets and issue such strong statements.

“We know for a fact Abramovich was involved in politics. He was a politician; he was basically a member of parliament in Russia, he was the governor of the Chukotka region until 2008.

“Abramovich was close to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. It was because of his relationship with Yeltsin that he grew to be so rich. We know that he was close to Putin.

“For his part, Abramovich has stressed that was all in the past, that he is not involved in politics anymore. Obviously, the UK government have looked have at the evidence and decided he is and that he is close to Putin, and in light of what Putin and Russia are doing in Ukraine, his assets have been frozen.”

So, what can and can’t Chelsea do?

“Sanctions on Abramovich have been imposed to stop him making any money but Chelsea have been given a licence for football-related activity to continue because they are a significant cultural asset.

“They can carry on playing games, their games can be shown on TV and they can continue to receive broadcast revenues. That means they can carry on paying wages and bills but they can’t give players new contracts.

“Chelsea cannot sell tickets to any games. So the only people who can go to Stamford Bridge and watch a game are those who have already purchased match tickets or season tickets.

“The club shop is closed; you cannot buy merchandise from Chelsea anymore. You can buy merchandise from third parties, however, providing they still have stock.

“At home games, they are allowed to spend up to £500,000 on security, catering and stewarding. For away games, they are only allowed to spend up to £20,000 on travel.

“No expenditure allowed on new works or refurbishments. Loan arrangements agreed before today can continue and outstanding transfer payments due to clubs can continue to be paid.”

What does this all mean for the current Chelsea first-team players – and their women’s and youth teams?

“They’ll be able to carry on paying their players and day-to-day bills. Chelsea have money to operate. In their latest accounts, they lost £145m for the year, that was covered by Roman Abramovich.

“He won’t be able to do that at the moment, but Chelsea have the funds to continue. I would not worry about the short term. Chelsea are not going to go out of business.

“It’s business as usual [for the whole club, including women’s and youth teams]. They can carry on operating but are under the same restrictions as the first team. The limit of £20k for travel applies to every team.

“The government don’t want to damage Chelsea, they recognise it’s a cultural asset. They want these teams to carry on running.”

Will Chelsea get a points deduction from the Premier League?

“I haven’t heard anything to suggest there will be a points deduction from the FA. As far as the Premier League are concerned, they want to manage the process so that Chelsea can continue to operate.

“There is no appetite to punish Chelsea at the moment, the focus is on protecting the integrity of the competitions Chelsea are involved in.

How can Chelsea fulfil European away games with just a £20,000 budget?

“There’s some flexibility when it comes to that. I don’t sense it is going to be strictly policed. Chelsea have arrangements in place with their travel partners whereby they are paid in advance of the season.

“We’ve been told by two sources that Chelsea have pre-paid a travel company for all of their travel for the rest of the season, so if that’s the case then the players will be able to carry on enjoying the luxuries they’ve been used to.”

Can Roman Abramovich still sell Chelsea, despite these sanctions?

“A No 10 spokesman says Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea could still happen – but it would need more negotiations with the UK Treasury.

“The UK Government are open to Abramovich selling Chelsea, even though they sanctioned him on Thursday morning, as they are only interested in punishing those close to Putin – not punishing the Chelsea fans.

“Another licence, similar to the football-related activities one, would have to be submitted by the Government to allow Abramovich to sell Chelsea.”

Chelsea Q&A special: Transfers, tickets, and what next at Stamford Bridge? Plus Man Utd vs Tottenham in top-four race

In a special edition of the Essential Football Podcast where Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol joins Ron Walker, Declan Olley and Oli Yew for all the latest updates on everything from Stamford Bridge at the end of a tumultuous week for Chelsea, as well as looking ahead to a big weekend in the Premier League.

PART 1 | Man Utd vs Tottenham – is there extra pressure to bounce back after the hosts’ defeat to Man City last weekend? Who has more riding on the game, and how will Harry Kane’s form play a part? Plus we make both the case for a home win, and look at how Spurs can grab a big three points on the road.

PART 2 | Kaveh Solhekol joins us to explain the latest developments around Chelsea following Roman Abramovich’s sanctions from the UK government on Thursday. Where does it leave the club? Can they rescue their transfer plans? Will away fans be allowed in, and who’s going to buy the club?