Friday was the deadline: What do you buy as a bid at Chelsea FC? † Premier League

After 19 years, Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the Chelsea club that he bought from Ken Bates in June 2003 for 165 million euros.

The asking price of the Russian oligarch is 3.5 billion euros, 21 times more than what he bought for the club in 2003. It is by no means certain that he will get that much money for the club, but even if it comes close, it’s not that Abramovich did a job gold investment.

Anyone buying Chelsea FC should know exactly what they are buying.

Prior to Roman Abramovich’s arrival, Chelsea was a club that slowly slipped into English and European football. The club struggled with mounting financial concerns.

Abramovich is not.

Thanks to the investments of its rich Russian owner, Chelsea won the Champions League twice, the Premier League five times, the FA Cup five times, the League Cup three times, the European League twice, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Really great list.

Top players were needed to win prizes, and the Russians gladly paid for it. In total, he spent 2.6 billion euros on transfers. She started her first season with big names like Hernan Crespo, Juan Sebastian Veron and Claude Makelele.

It went on for several years: Drogba, Robben, Cech, Ballack, Shevchenko, Anelka, Deco, Essien, Cole, Kalou, the sky was the limit.

The early years were 2018, 2019 and 2021 when 290, 281 and 221 million were spent respectively on Kepa, Pulisic, Jorginho, Kovacic, Morata, Bakayoko, Rudiger, Drinkwater, Havertz, Werner, Zeisch and Chilwell.

In the past 10 years, Chelsea have spent (slightly) more on transfers than City and United. At City and Paris Saint-Germain, they know that investing a lot of money in players does not guarantee winning the Champions League, but he worked at Chelsea.

The fact that Chelsea clinched the Champions League against City last year has caused fans to rejoice. At the same time, they now realize that it certainly would not have been possible without Abramovich’s investments.

This creates fears about the future and this is justified, because in fact the Russian tore his pants badly at Chelsea FC.

Since the start of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, losses estimated at one billion euros have been incurred. This does not seem to matter to Abramovich.

In total, he pumped 1.8 billion euros out of his own pocket at Chelsea. These were large amounts, especially in the early days. Abramovich wanted to break United and Arsenal’s dominance in the Premier League.

Gradually the amounts have decreased, but in the past ten years there has not been a single English club where its owner has poured more money than Chelsea. Not even Sheikh Mansour in City.

It is better for potential buyers who want to make money from Chelsea to think twice. Chelsea’s main source of income in recent years has been player sales.

There was no trading house in England greater than Stamford Bridge. Think Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Oscar or Diego Costa. Chelsea is also famous for attracting young talents from all over the world. This model also worked, because good money was made by selling talent from their youth.

On the other hand, it is a risky business model. Every Belgian club knows this. Unless you’re a wealthy oligarch, of course.

One of the main reasons Chelsea struggle to make more income is their pitch profile. In London, Arsenal and Tottenham have built new temples of growth, but this is particularly difficult for Chelsea.

Roman Abramovich does not own Stamford Bridge. Stamford Bridge and the land on which it is located are owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, a non-profit organization of fans and former players such as John Terry and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

With a capacity of 41,837 places, Stamford Bridge is small by English standards. Too small to make a lot of money. So Abramovich initially planned to move. Just came across the owners of the stadium who lead Chelsea, who did not want to move.

The organization owns the stadium and the name Chelsea. Without his permission, the club can only move if they change names. Another option is to renovate Stamford Bridge. This has also been thought about for years, but it would be very expensive. The latest estimate includes €2 billion.

So for Chelsea fans, choosing a new owner will be very important for several reasons.

If they find a new sugar daddy, they can continue browsing their current success. If the new owner is the realistic type, the ambitions will have to be drastically curtailed.