Roman Abramovich Banned Chelsea From Selling Players to One Rival PL Club

A former Chelsea player revealed that former owner Roman Abramovich once blocked him from making a move to a Premier League rival.

It's been over three years since Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine due to his relationship with Vladimir Putin.

The UK government froze all of Abramovich's assets in the United Kingdom on 10 March while they awaited the sale of the club, with current owners BlueCo agreeing terms to buy Chelsea in May.

During his 19 year ownership of the club, the Russian oligarch built up a reputation of being active in the transfer market, with several of Chelsea's best-ever players joining under Abramovich.

However, a former player has since spoken out to reveal that there was one club that Abramovich made clear he didn't want to do business with as he blocked players from being sold to the Premier League rival.

Roman Abramovich owned Chelsea for 19 years. (Image: Alexander Hassenstein - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Carlton Cole began his career as a trainee with Chelsea, before signing his first professional contract with the club in October 2000.

He made his first-team debut in April 2002, but spent most of his time at the club on loan before securing a permanent move to West Ham United in July 2006.

But West Ham wasn't the only London club that Cole tried to join during his spell at Chelsea, as he came within only hours of joining Tottenham Hotspur before Abramovich suddenly blocked the move because he did not do business with the rival side.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Cole revealed: “I almost joined Spurs. I went and did my medical and everything.

“Roman Abramovich found out and he said ‘you’ve got to come back, you’re not joining them’.

“He said ‘you can’t go to Spurs, I don’t do business with them’.”

Throughout the entirety of Abramovich's time with Chelsea, the only player that was allowed to join Tottenham Hotspur was Carlo Cudicini, a reserve keeper who joined Spurs on a free transfer in 2009.

Carlton Cole tried to join Spurs during his Chelsea career. (Image: Ben Radford/Getty Images)

But Abramovich wasn't prepared to leave Cole without an option to leave, as he instead proposed that the striker instead moved to Russia to join one of his other clubs.

Cole continued: “‘I’ve got an alternative for you’ [said Abramovich]. I drive back to Stamford Bridge with my uncle and my dad.

“He had his interpreter with him. Roman Abramovich was there, we were talking. I was saying ‘where am I going?’

“He said, ‘I will give you a new contract but you’ve got to go to CSKA Moscow. His other team.

“I was trying to get into the England team. Those days you could not go abroad. If you go abroad you don’t get in the England team.

“So I said to him, ‘I ain’t going to CSKA Moscow, pal.”