Will Roman Abramovich sell Chelsea? Investors, including some from the US, ‘are drawing up offers’

Investors interested in buying Chelsea are reportedly drawing up offers to purchase the club from Roman Abramovich.

The club’s oligarch owner is believed to be close with Vladimir Putin and there have been calls for the billionaire to be sanctioned by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit Russia with what he called the ‘largest and most severe’ package of sanctions on Thursday but Abramovich has so far escaped any such punishment.

Now Bloomberg report investors and private equity firms, including some from the United States, are on high alert if the £1.5billion-valued Blues are put up for sale as they await clarity from the government on any future Russian sanctions.

The report adds that Chelsea has already fielded one enquiry this month regarding a purchase of the club, while a spokesperson for the Blues declined to comment.

Abramovich built his fortune in oil following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and bought Chelsea in 2003. Bloomberg Billionaires Index claim he now has a net worth of £9.7bn ($13bn).

Labour MP Chris Bryant claimed earlier this week Abramovich is unfit to own Chelsea and said the government should seize UK assets belonging to him amid cited alleged links to corruption. 

Bryant said he was calling on Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov – who has made more than £13.4bn from gas and telecoms and until recently owned 30 per cent of Arsenal – ‘to make absolutely clear now that they oppose the illegal invasion of Ukraine’.

The club’s oligarch owner is believed to be close with Vladimir Putin, who ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

‘They should be lining up in front of the TV cameras to say ‘surely to God this can’t be happening’,’ Bryant added. ‘Otherwise we will conclude that they are still in hock to Putin.’

Abramovich has been effectively banned from living in London. He withdrew his application for a British Tier 1 investor visa in 2018, after reported delays in his application following criticism of Russian oligarchs in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings.

Immigration officials are reportedly under instructions to make it impossible for Mr Abramovich – who owns a £125million mansion near Kensington Palace – to base himself in the UK.

His case is said to be being handled by the Home Office’s ‘Special Cases Unit’.

Abramovich was also named by MPs on Tuesday as being one of 35 oligarchs identified by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as one of the ‘key enablers’ of the ‘kleptocracy’ run by the country’s president Putin.

Abramovich has so far escaped any sanctions from Boris Johnson and the UK government

Abramovich’s daughter Sofia has dramatically joined a chorus of wealthy Russians slamming Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine

The Chelsea owner’s daughter Sofia has also dramatically joined a chorus of wealthy Russians slamming Putin for invading Ukraine. 

The 27-year-old heiress, who spends much of her time in London, shared an image on Instagram showing the Russian leader in a danger sign with the caption: ‘The biggest and most successful lie of the Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin’. 

Meanwhile, Blues manager Thomas Tuchel says the club ‘feel horrible’ about Russia’s invasion. 

Asked whether UEFA’s decision to move the final of the Champions League from St Petersburg to Paris was right, he said: ‘Yes, a clear yes (it was the right decision). And sadly I think it’s the worst reason to have to change a location. 

‘We feel horrible about it in general and it clouds our minds and our focus of course. I can absolutely understand the decision. There are things more important.’ 

Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov (R) have been urged to speak out against Putin’s invasion