Roman Abramovich willing to listen to offers for Chelsea amid UK sanctions fear | Football News

Roman Abramovich is willing to listen to offers for Chelsea amid fears of UK sanctions, with Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claiming he has been offered the chance to buy the club.

Earlier this week, Labour MP Chris Bryant used Parliamentary Privilege to also reveal Abramovich is selling his UK home and another flat, telling the House of Commons the Russian billionaire is “terrified of being sanctioned”.

It now appears Chelsea’s owner is looking to sell the football club too. Abramovich is owed £1.5billion by Chelsea after buying the club in a £140m deal in 2003.

However, Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solekhol does not believe the process will be an easy one.

He explained: “For the first time since Abramovich bought Chelsea 19 years ago, he’s willing to listen to offers for the club.

“On Saturday, we saw him try to give up control of the club and hand it over to the Chelsea Foundation trustees. That has proven to be much more difficult that he thought it would be and selling the club in the current climate is going to be much more difficult than maybe he imagines it’s going to be.

“It’s very significant that Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has come out and said that Abramovich is basically desperate to sell the club. We’ve also heard from Chris Bryant MP, who used parliamentary privilege to say Abramovich is terrified that he is going to be sanctioned by the UK government.

“According to Mr Bryant, Abramovich wants to sell his house in London, sell another flat and that was apparently going to happen today.

“If Abramovich is trying to dispose of all of his UK assets, it’s obvious that he would dispose of Chelsea as well.

“The only issue is – who could buy Chelsea at the moment? Who could put a deal together? Because any prospective buyer is going to be thinking ‘this is a person, Abramovich, who could be sanctioned by the UK Government at any moment. His assets could be frozen. Is this someone I want to do business with at the moment?’

“Abramovich himself has always said that he believes he has not done anything that warrants him being sanctioned by the UK Government, but for the first time in 19 years, it looks like Abramovich is willing to listen to offer for Chelsea.

“But selling Chelsea at the moment is going to be just as complicated as trying to hand over control to the club to the Chelsea Foundation trustees.”

Chelsea have always previously said the club was not for sale but declined to comment on Wednesday.

Wyss ‘offered chance’ to sign Chelsea

Swiss billionaire Wyss claims he has been offered the chance to buy Chelsea, with the 86-year-old has admitting interest in purchasing the Stamford Bridge club from Abramovich, but only as part of a consortium.

Abramovich is understood to want to retain his ownership of Chelsea, but that could effectively prove close to impossible should the UK Government impose sanctions on the 55-year-old, who has owned the west London club since 2003.

“Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,” Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.

“I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much.

“You know, Chelsea owe him £2billion. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price.

“I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners. But I have to examine the general conditions first.

“But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.”

Tuchel: Stop asking me about Abramovich

Meanwhile, a visibly moved Thomas Tuchel asked reporters to stop asking him questions about the war in Ukraine, saying the situation is “horrible”.

“You have to stop, I am not a politician,” Tuchel said, eventually halting journalists after several questions at his pre-match press conference before Chelsea play Luton in the FA Cup.

“I can only repeat myself, and I feel bad to repeat it as I never experienced war. So even to talk about it, I feel bad.

“I’m very privileged as I sit here in peace. I do the best I can but you have to stop asking me these questions as I have no answers for you.”

Tuchel says Abramovich’s decision to pass over control of the club to trustees has made no difference to him and the team, or the day to day running of the club.

He reiterated he does not expect his responsibilities at Stamford Bridge to change, despite Abramovich announcing his intention to hand stewardship and care of the club to its charitable foundation. Abramovich released his statement on Saturday, on the eve of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Luton, Tuchel said: “For me as a coach and in charge of the first team, the position doesn’t change too much in the daily business.

“I have daily exchanges with [director] Marina (Granovskaia) and [technical and performance advisor] Petr Cech about how to improve the first team and this won’t stop because they stay in charge. It doesn’t affect what I do on a daily basis.”

When asked if Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea is a problem, Tuchel added: “It’s a bit too much for me to answer. I’m not aware of any details and I’m not aware of the whole situation. We all agree there are situations much more important than football.

“This will never change. Situations like war are of course so much more important but it’s not for me to comment on the situation with Abramovich. I don’t know enough about it.”

Tuchel: We’re calm in centre of a storm

“There are much more important things than football. Of course, war is horrible and there cannot be any other opinion than this. But why should we be more distracted than anyone else? There is a huge distraction going on and we are worried but we try to create an atmosphere where we can focus on our passion.

“We are privileged but of course across Europe, everyone has noise in their heads they don’t like. Everyone is trying to do their best to do their work.”

When asked if he was worried about the future running of Chelsea, Tuchel said: “I’m not sure if I’m the person to give any messages to the fans that isn’t sporting.

“We try to be calm here and we are calm in the centre of a storm or of some noise around us that we cannot control and we are also not responsible for it. It’s best to stay calm, focus on what we love and what we do. This is sport. We have a right to focus on sport and the players have a right to be focused. This is what we can tell the fans and this is what they saw on Sunday.

“There is a lot of commitment from the players and the fans but everyone is aware there are more important things. The situation in Ukraine is much more important than football and yet still there was a full stadium at Wembley and two strong teams who played a fantastic match. We can distract the fans and entertain them, and I don’t see any other solution.”

Abramovich ‘trying to broker peace’ between Russia & Ukraine

Abramovich is attempting to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Chelsea owner’s spokesperson has said.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire handed “stewardship and care” of Chelsea to the club foundation’s trustees on Saturday, in a move aimed to protect the Stamford Bridge club.

But now the 55-year-old is trying to help bring an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I can confirm that Roman Abramovich was contacted by the Ukrainian side for support in achieving a peaceful resolution, and that he has been trying to help ever since,” Abramovich’s spokesperson told the PA news agency.

“Considering what is at stake, we would ask for your understanding as to why we have not commented on neither the situation as such nor his involvement. Thank you.”

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