Roman Abramovich plans to sell Chelsea | SOLD for £4.25BN

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Praying a US tycoon (preferably owner of an NFL club) completes a leveraged buyout against their assets, paying £0 of there own money. It's a great idea.
 

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Ineos already own Lussane-Sport and Nice.
That would be a joke, Britain's richest man and apparently a big Utd fan buys Chelsea at the drop of a hat after years of us hoping he might buy us.
 

RedRonaldo

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Apart from being Russian and super rich, why should he be sanctioned too? Because of his reportedly close tie with Putin or Russian government?
 

peridigm

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Apart from being Russian and super rich, why should he be sanctioned too? Because of his reportedly close tie with Putin or Russian government?
Why ask the question if you already know the answer?
 

WeePat

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Was about to say isn't Ratcliffe a United fan.
Probably. Not sure. I know he was interested in Chelsea a few years ago but decided against it for some reason, can't remember if it was Roman's valuation or the stadium issue. In any case, the club wasn't for sale back then. The situation is different now.
 

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Apart from being Russian and super rich, why should he be sanctioned too? Because of his reportedly close tie with Putin or Russian government?
A lot of pressure to run oligarchs out of developed countries and seize assets etc, also to remove reliance on their money and resources. They have power and so pressure/sanctions on them could impose pressure on Putin.
 

Jackal981

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Was about to say isn't Ratcliffe a United fan.
I mean I am a big United fan but if I have the money and the opportunity to buy Chelsea in a discounted price like this I would have jumped on the boat. You wont get any other chance like this.
 

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I mean I am a big United fan but if I have the money and the opportunity to buy Chelsea in a discounted price like this I would have jumped on the boat. You wont get any other chance like this.
It's still hardly an bargain, over 2.2bn.. remember Abramovich only paid £150m in 2005. Newcastle went for £300m, that's in the good value range.
 

cyberman

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Trust me, I'm still calm. Sure, I'm apprehensive about what the future looks like but the club won't go anywhere. Owners come and go as they have done since the beginning of time.
It may not look like it with some of my Chelsea posts on here but I really don’t want to see clubs suffer under shit owners, it just seems harde to shift shit owners when they’re based in Tampa etc and can just turn the tv off.
Im reading stuff like Roman will not collect in the 1.5b but I bet you that 1.5b feels a lot more to him now that it did this time last year. Say that’s true anyway and 1.5b can be written off then why sell Chelsea for 600m odd more? Wasn’t that entire keep the loan thing based off of Roman not selling and disappearing?
what would worry me is the cut price new owners seem to be getting. That’ll attract a lot of investors who shouldn’t be owning a big club just to double their money the instant the deal is signed. Half price and (best case scenario) the 1.5b debt written off? They’ll be licking their lips.
That’ll be leveraged as well imo so that’s more debt you’ll have to pay and a probable structured repayment for Romans loan added in.
it could get dark for your club
 

I'm a beautiful thing

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Abramovich poured money into Chelsea, its unlikely anyone else will do the same and if the rumours of the price he's asking are true, then even less so.
Chelsea will be ok, won't be able to spend like before unfortunately it leaves City and Newcastle as the big spenders, well the clubs who can spend without being self funded, dodgy sponsership not withstanding
 

TheReligion

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It may not look like it with some of my Chelsea posts on here but I really don’t want to see clubs suffer under shit owners, it just seems harde to shift shit owners when they’re based in Tampa etc and can just turn the tv off.
Im reading stuff like Roman will not collect in the 1.5b but I bet you that 1.5b feels a lot more to him now that it did this time last year. Say that’s true anyway and 1.5b can be written off then why sell Chelsea for 600m odd more? Wasn’t that entire keep the loan thing based off of Roman not selling and disappearing?
what would worry me is the cut price new owners seem to be getting. That’ll attract a lot of investors who shouldn’t be owning a big club just to double their money the instant the deal is signed. Half price and (best case scenario) the 1.5b debt written off? They’ll be licking their lips.
That’ll be leveraged as well imo so that’s more debt you’ll have to pay and a probable structured repayment for Romans loan added in.
it could get dark for your club
I think it will be a reality check for the fans at the very least but should sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak.
 

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Huge lifelong United fan

Agent Jim!
He appealed to me a few years ago when he was showing interest. I would want someone who understands football and culture around English football.
 

choccy77

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I mean I am a big United fan but if I have the money and the opportunity to buy Chelsea in a discounted price like this I would have jumped on the boat. You wont get any other chance like this.
It's been quoted Roman is looking for £3billion to sell.
 

UpWithRivers

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What the real question that will never be asked is - 'Who in the British government or elite class cashed in on Oligarchs. Both Russian, Saudis etc.' There should be a full independent enquiry. But there never will be. Someone was paid off. That's for sure.
 

WeePat

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It may not look like it with some of my Chelsea posts on here but I really don’t want to see clubs suffer under shit owners, it just seems harde to shift shit owners when they’re based in Tampa etc and can just turn the tv off.
Im reading stuff like Roman will not collect in the 1.5b but I bet you that 1.5b feels a lot more to him now that it did this time last year. Say that’s true anyway and 1.5b can be written off then why sell Chelsea for 600m odd more? Wasn’t that entire keep the loan thing based off of Roman not selling and disappearing?
what would worry me is the cut price new owners seem to be getting. That’ll attract a lot of investors who shouldn’t be owning a big club just to double their money the instant the deal is signed. Half price and (best case scenario) the 1.5b debt written off? They’ll be licking their lips.
That’ll be leveraged as well imo so that’s more debt you’ll have to pay and a probable structured repayment for Romans loan added in.
it could get dark for your club
I hear you and those things would be worrisome if that is how it panned out. I won't waste my energy being worried about potential dark days ahead and doomsday scenarios when we don't really have any tangible information to work with yet though.
 

WeePat

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Where is John Terry and his NFT consortium when you need him.
 

I’m loving my life

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Praying a US tycoon (preferably owner of an NFL club) completes a leveraged buyout against their assets, paying £0 of there own money. It's a great idea.
Please let that happen. Chelsea getting Glazered would be devine justice of the highest order after their role in the degradation of football to what we see today from their sports washing/financial doping
 

Wednesday at Stoke

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Praying a US tycoon (preferably owner of an NFL club) completes a leveraged buyout against their assets, paying £0 of there own money. It's a great idea.
This is like saying my house burned down, so I hope the house down the street burns down too.
 

marktan

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What the real question that will never be asked is - 'Who in the British government or elite class cashed in on Oligarchs. Both Russian, Saudis etc.' There should be a full independent enquiry. But there never will be. Someone was paid off. That's for sure.
There's loads of them. Even the conservative party as a body gets loads of Russian donations. There's no way that guys like Abramovich, Usmanov, Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven etc have avoided sanctions without yielding political influence.
 

adexkola

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Here's a good example of why sportswashing works if you look at the response here:



If you say something fairly innocent, such as that you personally would give your season ticket up at United should they fall under the ownership of an oligarch, dictator or state fund, you immediately get jumped on by City and Newcastle fans who feel the need to defend their unchallenged allegiance to their clubs. Taking ownership of a major sports club instantly gives you a huge legion of people who need little provocation to engage in whataboutery and at best neutrality towards, and at worst support for, the actions of a regime. That's exactly the trap that I never want to fall into. I don't want to ever feel the need to justify my support that way. I was against the possible purchase of United by the Saudis for years for that reason.
Nah this is a really stupid reason for buying a billion pound football club

At the risk of detailing this thread, sportswashing is a term that has little sense to it.
 

crossy1686

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Nah this is a really stupid reason for buying a billion pound football club

At the risk of detailing this thread, sportswashing is a term that has little sense to it.
Sportswashing is real and the cost of buying a football club and throwing a few quid at it is nothing compared to what these countries/people do to make that money in the first place.
 

adexkola

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Sportswashing is real and the cost of buying a football club and throwing a few quid at it is nothing compared to what these countries/people do to make that money in the first place.
I think the term is so loosely, arbitrarily and inconsistently applied that it has very little meaning outside of online discussions.

I've made this point before but Russian oligarchs and Emirate leaders have had their money sloshing around Europe for decades. I really doubt they spent billions, to buy the opinions of club fans. If anything, the purchases have bought more attention on said leaders (the very antithesis of money laundering: avoid attention to your bad behavior).
 

UpWithRivers

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Nah this is a really stupid reason for buying a billion pound football club

At the risk of detailing this thread, sportswashing is a term that has little sense to it.
Its literally what it is and an accepted term for what the billionaires are doing. Its not just some made up word.
 

greatscott9930

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Maybe the asking price is in rubles, in which case the Caf might be able to pool our money and buy it
 

adexkola

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Its literally what it is and an accepted term for what the billionaires are doing. Its not just some made up word.
All words are made up :D

Again, the reasoning behind this sportswashing doesn't make sense. I already have my way in your real estate, your shopping... You sell me weapons to bomb my neighbors, you vacation in my cities... And I need to buy a football club so I can get 20,000 fans to argue I'm a good guy online, despite the fact that potentially attracts more negative attention to me?

Ignoring the fact that this term is predominantly applied to Middle East/Russian dictators... Have never heard of US military endorsement and bombardment of US sport events as sportswashing but what would you expect for a term that has little meaning?
 

HerrLeinad

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I think the term is so loosely, arbitrarily and inconsistently applied that it has very little meaning outside of online discussions.

I've made this point before but Russian oligarchs and Emirate leaders have had their money sloshing around Europe for decades. I really doubt they spent billions, to buy the opinions of club fans. If anything, the purchases have bought more attention on said leaders (the very antithesis of money laundering: avoid attention to your bad behavior).
Attention is the whole point. It brings connections in many other areas, especially politically. Other investments that serve a similar purpose doesn't mean sportswashing isn't real or not effective.
 

adexkola

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Attention is the whole point. It brings connections in many other areas, especially politically. Other investments that serve a similar purpose doesn't mean sportswashing isn't real or not effective.
Is negative attention part of the deal?

Because I for one didn't know much about how oligarchs made their money until Roman bought Chelsea. I'm sure he would have preferred I remained ignorant on the actual source of his wealth.

That's the problem with this term, it's so vague. Has any concrete connection been made between an act of sportswashing and an observed delta in benefit to the alleged sportswasher?
 

Dr. StrangeHate

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I hear you and those things would be worrisome if that is how it panned out. I won't waste my energy being worried about potential dark days ahead and doomsday scenarios when we don't really have any tangible information to work with yet though.
It is best to be prepared, just join us in the match day threads and that is your life from now on as a Chelsea fan.