Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss has claimed that he has been offered the chance to buy Chelsea following mounting pressure on Roman Abramovich to sell the club.
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian affiliated companies and individuals have been faced with sanctions from left and right as the world continues to condemn the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Chelsea billionaire owner Abramovich who is a Russian citizen, may well be next and it is rumoured that he would like to dispose of his foreign assets before having to suffer sanctions on them.
Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea appears to be under threat following his alleged closeness to Vladimir Putin and Russia. He also raised eyebrows after his decision to transfer the stewardship and care of Chelsea to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation.
This plan however has stalled as the foundation are reluctant to take over as there may be unforeseen consequences.
However, in recent development, Swiss billionaire Wyss has revealed he was amongst four people who were being offered a chance to buy the club.
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The 86-year-old who is reportedly worth £4.3bn, said he could be interested but Abramovich’s current asking price was too high.
“Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,” Wyss told the Swiss newspaper Blick.
“I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now.
“Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2bn. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price.”
Despite being a multi billionaire, Wyss admitted that if he was ever going to buy Chelsea, he would not act alone. Wyss is a businessman and has a consortium which comprises of other businessmen.
“I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners, but I have to examine the general conditions first,” he added.
“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.”
As at the time of this report, neither Chelsea nor Abramovich have commented on Wyss’ claims which has further fueled speculation surrounding the ownership of the club.
Whichever party shows interest in buying the club will have to act fast because if the club owner is sanctioned before a deal is completed, it will be difficult if not impossible to sell the club.
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