What becomes of Roman Abramovich?

March 2, 2022. While the rumor swelled for several days, Roman Abramovich formalized the sale of Chelsea through a press release published on the official website of the English team. “I would like to address the speculation in the media in recent days regarding my ownership of Chelsea FC. As I said before, I have always taken decisions in the interests of the club. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe it is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the sponsors and partners of the Club.” A strong but inevitable decision in the end.

Abramovich was poisoned

Indeed, the 56-year-old businessman was in the crosshairs of the British government and public opinion following the intensification of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022. Close to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin , Abramovich was singled out like other Russian oligarchs. He therefore retired from the Blues, entrusting the management of the club to six directors of the charitable foundation, before finally making the decision to sell the club he had bought in June 2003 for around 190 million euros. A heartbreak for the native of Saratov, who had enjoyed great success and won 21 trophies with the Blues in 19 years. All while consuming an insane number of trainers.

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For the good of the club but also because his hand was also forced a little, the Russian officially sold Chelsea on May 28 to the consortium led by Todd Boehly. An operation at 4.97 billion euros, including 2.9 billion for the sale price and a commitment to make future expenses for the club up to 2.07 billion euros. In the meantime, Abramovich has left the UK, where he is no longer welcome. But it is obviously not in his country either. Forbes revealed on March 3, 2022 that the former Blues boss, who has worked in various ways to establish peace, was poisoned in kyiv during a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian representatives.

The Russian lost a fortune

Neutral, because close to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he knew thanks to Chelsea but also in relation to his actions in the field of culture and the arts, he had been sent as a negotiator. Moreover, according to Forbes, it is because he knows the President of Ukraine well that the Russian oligarch was not sanctioned by the United States, he who was punished by the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom United. Anyway, during this famous meeting, Abramovich, along with two other “referees” present to defend peace between the two countries, had red eyes, painful tears and loss of skin on his face and hands. THE wall street journal confirmed poisoning.

Subsequently, the man born in 1966 found refuge in Israel (he has Israeli nationality as well as Portuguese and Russian, editor’s note) and especially in Turkey. THE Mirror explains that he has spent most of the last twelve months there. He docked one of his yachts there near Bodrum and parked his private jets in the country. He also spent time in a mansion overlooking the Bosphorus that he rented for 45,000 euros a month. But his goal was to settle in Istanbul, where he ended up finding a luxurious residence whose selling price was 9.5 million euros. A big investment on his part as he has lost big since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

He is trying to get back into football

In effect, Forbes estimates that his personal fortune has grown from 13.6 billion euros in 2021 to 9 billion now. The loss of Chelsea was a human and financial blow. Moreover, Abramovich has tried to return to the middle of the round ball for a year. He first tested the waters in Turkey. Talks with Göztepe have even been mentioned. But in the end, that was not the case. Recently, UOL indicated that the Russian magnate intended to invest in several Brazilian stables. Six Serie A and Serie B teams have been approached. For the moment, the former Chelsea manager does not seem to have hit the mark, he who still has several businesses in parallel.

A year after leaving the London club, Roman Abramovich is trying to make a comeback to football. He must certainly follow closely what happens at Chelsea, where the club was on the verge of ruin following his departure and the sanctions received. There, we still have good memories. At least, on the side of some supporters who chanted his name recently during matches in January, assures the Mirror. Which was surprising. On the other hand, at the club, we tried to erase the legacy left by the Russian. Several personalities who were there during his term, including Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia, Petr Cech and Thomas Tuchel, were put out. However, it is not necessarily better for Chelsea. A club where we definitely want to turn the Roman Abramovich page.