Status: 4:12 p.m
In the summer of 2003, Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea for £150m
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa/PA Wire/Adam Davy
All sides have given the green light to the most expensive transaction in the history of sport. Chelsea will change hands early next week. The previous owner Abramowitsch goes away empty-handed. The Russian oligarch bears it with composure.
DAccording to the club, nothing stands in the way of the takeover of the English first division club FC Chelsea by a consortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly. The transaction should be completed next Monday, the Premier League club announced on Saturday. On Friday evening, a final agreement was reached on the sale to the consortium.
The price for the London club around coach Thomas Tuchel and the German internationals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz is 4.25 billion pounds (almost five billion euros). It is the most expensive acquisition in the history of the sport. So far, the sale of the American football team Carolina Panthers (equivalent to £1.75 billion) three and a half years ago has been the largest transaction. Previous owner Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in the summer of 2003 for around £150m.
Before the contract was awarded to the consortium around Boehly, the English Premier League and the British government had given the necessary approvals for the takeover. The proceeds from the sale will be used for humanitarian purposes – specifically for war victims in Ukraine – and will not benefit the owner of the club either directly or indirectly.
Abramovich is on the British and EU sanctions lists because of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and his close ties to President Vladimir Putin. The club’s future was temporarily in limbo with the sanctions imposed on Abramovich.
1.75 billion are available for the benefit of Chelsea FC
“I am proud that our joint successes will now benefit millions of people from the newly established charitable foundation. This is the legacy we created together,” Abramovich said in a statement published by Chelsea on its website. The 55-year-old oligarch will also refrain from repaying his club loan, which amounts to almost two billion euros, in the deal that has now been negotiated.
Included in the purchase price is £1.75 billion, which must be provided “for the benefit of the club”, it said. Which will probably flow primarily into the renovation of the aging Chelsea Arena at Stamford Bridge. “My aim was to ensure the next owner had a mindset that would enable the men’s and women’s teams to succeed, as well as the will and motivation to embrace other key aspects of the club, such as the academy and the vital work at the Chelsea Foundation , to develop further,” said Abramovich.
He welcomed the agreement and wished the new owners every success in running the club. Owning the club comes with great responsibility, the oligarch stressed. For him it was the honor of his life.
