Remembering one of the most successful deals in the history of world football and sadly describe what has become The once cool project of a Russian oligarch.
How London became Blue
They say that the arrival of Roman Abramovich in Chelsea is due to the fans of the Blues… The sworn rivals from Manchester United» and Madrid «Real», which made a thriller in the Champions League match (4:3) and fell in love with the Russian in the number one sport.
br>The businessman caught fire with a new dream, and nothing could stop him. It was not possible to agree with Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham, but he shook hands with Chelsea — on June 2, 2003, a native of Saratov acquired a football club for a record amount for English football. 140 million pounds sterling flew away for the purchase, the 80 million debt was paid off — except for the rescue of Chelsea, which suffered losses, you can’t name a change in the ownership of the club. The press immediately started talking about the governor of Chukotka, but not many people could have imagined that the best years in the club's history were ahead of the Blues.
So in the end it happened. Multimillion-dollar transfers blew up the sports media (immediately remember the transfer of Fernando Torres for 50 million), the players were content with chic salaries, top coaches went to Stamford Bridge one after another. The legendary Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba worked here with no less status Jose Mourinho, Luis Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and now the most titled helmsman in the Champions League Carlo Ancelloti…
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19 years have passed. By 2022, Chelsea have won 21 trophies under Abramovich's watchful eye. And this despite the fact that before the purchase by the Russian, there were only 11 blue cups on the shelf. Let's not be lazy and list all the successes of the Londoners together with the Russian in the domestic arena: circle»>
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Three League Cups
In European competition things went just as well:
- two wins in the UEFA Champions League;
- the same number of Europa League trophies;
- UEFA Super Cup 2021;
- winning the Club World Cup 2022.
Undoubtedly, the two «big-eared» Champions League trophies remain the most valuable in the club's piggy bank. Both times the team was the underdog. But neither in 2012 nor in 2021, Bayern at home and Josep Guardiola's near-perfect Manchester City could stop Chelsea's sensation.
br>»It hurts me to part like this»
It is not known how long the union of the Russian and the English grandee would have existed if the beginning of the NWO had not happened. A harsh storm on the geopolitical map has also hit sports: sanctions against domestic athletes, massive suspensions of national teams from tournaments, endless scandals around symbols and an anthem, politicized decisions and collective responsibility…
A blow was also dealt to Abramovich, who could not possibly have stayed at Chelsea. Otherwise, the beloved club under pressure from local and European authorities would have gone to the bottom. A few days after February 24, an official statement from the club and a farewell quote from the oligarch were released on the social networks of the Blues.
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“I have always made decisions in the interests of the club. That is why in the current situation I decided to sell it — it is in the best interests of the team. Please know this is an incredibly difficult decision and it hurts me to leave like this. But I really think it's in Chelsea's best interests.
Roman Abramovich< br>Russian multimillionaire
At the end of May 2022, the consortium of American Todd Boely became the owner of Chelsea.
Western media reported that the club had agreed terms for a $5.3 billion takeover. But difficulties arose: Abramovich refused to accept the scheme of the deal proposed by the British government. Subsequently, all differences were settled. Also, issues were resolved with Chelsea's debt of 1.6 billion pounds to Abramovich and the permission of the Portuguese government to sell the asset (the oligarch has the citizenship of this country).
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"Roman. Boss… There will never be enough words to express my gratitude to you. The support you have always given me, both on and off the field, remains with me forever. You have created a world class men's/women's team and academy, enabling us all to be the best and achieve our dreams. Your legacy and name will be remembered forever, you are the best owner in the world. Thank you for everything".
John Terry
Former Chelsea and international player England
What happened next
And then Chelsea went to the bottom. No, no, there was plenty of money: the Blues have spent more than 626 million euros on the acquisition of new players since the arrival of Boeli, literally destroying the winter transfer window of 2023. But what about the results?
- Last season, after Abramovich was ousted, the club finished third in the Premier League, lost in the FA Cup and League Cup finals, and was also eliminated from the Champions League for 1/4 final stage. At the beginning of this spring, Chelsea announced that their losses for the 2021/22 season amounted to more than 137 million euros.
- The season that just ended turned into a nightmare that can only be compared with stories about Jack the Ripper wandering the streets of London. We do not take into account the local cups (everything is bad there: only the third rounds) and the Champions League (relegated again in the quarter-finals from Real Madrid) — we need to talk about the English championship. After all, Chelsea finished 12th with 44 points…losing 16 out of 38 matches and finishing the national championship with a goal difference of «-9».
Twelfth place was, of course, the worst result for the six-time English champions in 29 years. And they had fewer points 35 years ago, when the Londoners simply flew out of the top division. the field was «excellent» combined with a dressing room packed to capacity with unplayed stars (The Athletic wrote that due to an overabundance of players, some players had to change in the corridor). br>
The statistics of these most motley stars speaks for itself. Ukrainian Mikhail Mudryk, who moved from Shakhtar for 100 million euros, and world champion Enzo Fernandez, with a price tag of 121 million euros, never scored for the new team, and João Felix, loaned from Atlético, recorded only four goals in 20 matches. . What's more, three Chelsea players were included in the squad of the worst Premier League players of the season. No other team has «delegated» as many guys to the ESPN hit list, but the Blues weren't greedy, with defenseman Mark Cucurella, linebacker Kai Havertz and forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among the top 11 disappointments.
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No less insane was the leapfrog in the coaching position. In September 2022, Thomas Tuchel was fired, and Graham Potter, little known to the general public, took his place. Fans of the grand scratched their heads in bewilderment, and the management assured that everything was under control. Just be patient. Chelsea even paid Brighton more than €25m to terminate Potter's contract early and more than €11m to compensate Tuchel. It didn’t get better — the club was crumbling before our eyes … But instead of Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane (several names that appeared in insiders), the Blues had to be saved by Frank Lampard, fired from Everton.
Icon Chelsea have already managed Londoners in 2019-21. It turned out bad. But this time it turned out even worse: one win and eight losses in 11 matches after the comeback — a disaster, not otherwise.
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“When a club has a season like this, obviously there is a lot to improve. The next coach will need pre-season training: we are not physically competitive enough. <…> The team was too big, and this is the most serious problem — to work with players who, for one reason or another, have become disillusioned. This needs to be dealt with now. Some players have long known about the uncertainty with their future at Chelsea … Same problem. It's hard to compete in the Premier League if the players are in doubt, whether the club wants to leave or they want to leave.» (Sky Sports)
Frank Lampard
Former Chelsea manager
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The name of the new mentor, by the way, is already known.
Do you believe in a quick resuscitation of Chelsea?
Yes, an experienced Pochettino can do it10.4%
No, because the problem is not in the coach, but in the bosses89.6%< br>
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