Swiss Billionaire Confirms Offer To Buy Chelsea From Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovich could be about to sell Chelsea, after a Swiss billionaire confirmed that he's been offered the chance to buy the club.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to calls for Abramovich to have the Premier League club seized from his control, by one MP, despite the owners denial of close links to Vladimir Putin.

The 55-year-old has tried to distance himself from the club and last week handed over the 'stewardship' of the Blues to their trustees.

There has been widespread criticism of that move, and the club's terrible statement about the war, with Gary Neville particularly vocal about it.

On Tuesday, it was reported that three potential buyers were interested in the west London club, and now one Swiss billionaire has confirmed he's been approached by Abramovich to buy them.

"Like all other oligarchs, he is in a panic," Hansjorg Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.

"Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich."

Wyss, who is worth a reported £4.36 billion, according to Forbes, confirmed that he won't be buying the club on his own, and would need more investors.

"I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion," the billionaire added.

"As of today, we don't know the exact selling price.

"I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners. But I have to examine the general conditions first.

"But what I can already say, I'm definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors."

The 86-year-old, who now resides in the US, was formerly the CEO of Synthes USA, a medical device manufacturer and has previously donated hundreds of millions to environmental causes.

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, from Ken Bates, and the club has seen an incredible rise in success since the billionaire's takeover.

They won their first league title since 1955 in 2005 and have gone on to win five league titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, and the Champions League and Europa League twice each.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Premier League, Chelsea, Russia

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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