Roman Abramovich is facing a battle to get close to his asking price for Chelsea, with potential buyers baulking at paying as much as £3billion for the European champions.
Offers are already on the table after it was confirmed Abramovich will sell up amid calls for him to be sanctioned for his association with Vladimir Putin. But it is believed they are below his initial valuation, which was said to be £4bn.
Billionaires Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss have emerged as frontrunners and are hopeful of agreeing a deal in principle as soon as Monday, with further negotiations over the weekend.
But their bid will come in well below what Abramovich was aiming for, which will test the oligarch’s claim that a sale would not be fast-tracked.
The banker charged with the responsibility of finding buyers confirmed the Russian’s stance on Friday.
Joe Ravitch, partner and co-founder of Raine, told Reuters: “We are not going to rush anything. It is very important that Chelsea have the right owner to guide the club forward.”
But the sense of urgency on Abramovich’s part is clear in a remarkable week when he first tried to hand over stewardship of Chelsea and then announced he was ready to sell after 19 years of ownership.
Boehly and Wyss have at least one other investor in their consortium and believe a quick sale can be achieved. They believe they are in a position of strength at a time when it is claimed Abramovich is also selling up his London property portfolio.
Boehly has already seen one bid rejected in recent weeks, but the landscape has changed in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions being placed on oligarchs. Abramovich has not been included on the UK Government’s list of targets but there are calls for his assets to be frozen. Abramovich has denied there any grounds to sanction him.
Boehly and Wyss are not the only interested parties, with official bids invited by March 15. But Abramovich’s attempts to create a bidding war still look unlikely to drive the price up to what he had hoped for — even after writing off the £1.5bn in loans he has made to the club.
Potential buyers also face the issue of Stamford Bridge, which holds just over 40,000 and would cost an estimated £2.2bn to rebuild. Without a new stadium, any new owners know the club’s matchday revenue will be limited.
Even if a deal is struck over the weekend, it could take weeks to go through the necessary procedures. But Premier League chief executive Richard Masters suggested the fit and proper person’s test could be speeded up.
“I think the quickest one we’ve done is 10 days,” he said when speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit yesterday. “That’s not to say that record can’t be beaten. But, normally, it would take a number of weeks, and it all depends on the complexity of the deal.”
But Masters claimed any sanctions on Abramovich would likely end the deal.
Abramovich’s decision to sell has placed question marks over the club’s ability to remain among the world’s super clubs. Since 2003 they have achieved unprecedented success but that has been achieved against the backdrop of Abramovich’s support.
Future owners are likely to want to see a return, which could hamper Chelsea’s spending power going forward. They were looking to follow a more self-sustaining model, with this summer’s transfer business heavily reliant on player sales.
