Chelsea fans protest outside the ground against the potential sale of the club to the Ricketts … [+]
Chinedu Vincent Chidebelu just wants the melodrama to end.
A Chelsea fan from eastern Nigeria with nearly 250,000 soccer fans who follow his Vince™ Twitter account, Chidebelu has been riding the emotional roller coaster since sanctions against Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, pretty much forced the Russian oligarch to sell the internationally popular West London football club.
“You wake up every morning, you feel emotional,” Chidebelu says. The number of bidders for the team is expected to be reduced from three to one this week, moving Chelsea’s sale closer to resolution. Chidebelu is rooting for the process to be over “so that we can move on with our lives.”
Chelsea’s supporters hold placard against the Ricketts family
Chelsea’s purchase price is expected to be in the range of $3 billion, making it the most expensive sale of a sports team in history. Whichever of the competing bidding teams is approved, they face financial difficulties that Abramovich was able to paper over with his $8.6 billion of wealth and hundreds of millions a year in dividends from London-listed Russian shareholdings like steel giant Evraz. The team lost over $1 million a week for the 19 years of Abramovich’s reign. There is still a stadium to update and a squad to improve.
The bidders include Team Todd Boehly, a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, which also includes Clearlake Capital and Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners and another Dodgers co-owner; Team Stephen Pagliuca, of Bain Capital
Team Broughton raised eyebrows this week when the Financial Times reported that the bidders plan to finance their purchase with debt, a four-letter word that Abramovich never had to utter. The team plans to take out a $630 million term loan with an additional $125 million in revolving credit from Bank of America
Chelsea supporters hold up Ukrainian flags in the crowd February 27, 2022.
The barrage of news and gossip about the sale has proved exhausting for fans. Most of them, however, can’t look away. They just need to choose the right place to follow the ups and downs. “Twitter is obviously the main hub,” says London-based Matt Debono, leader of fan platform Absolute Chelsea. “If you want to stir yourself crazy you’re going to go on there. The more controlled and mature chats are coming either in person or on WhatsApp.”
The sanctions against Abramovich have already had a negative impact on the soccer team. Antonio Rüdiger, one of Chelsea’s best players this year, has confirmed he’s leaving for Real Madrid. The German player’s contract was up and Chelsea, due to sanctions, was unable to negotiate a new one. Chelsea has lost a player who could cost over $100 million to replace. Fans are aware that in any dressing room uncertainty is infectious and players, even those under contract, could start looking for an exit route if a solution isn’t found. A $30 million wage bill is due at the end of the month – miss that and players’ loyalty will be truly tested.
For Chidebelu, the first domino has fallen. “Rüdiger is [one of] the top three center backs in the world at the moment, and that one hurts,” says Chidebelu. “If Chelsea weren’t sanctioned they could have done something … and that makes things even worse.”
There are other, more unexpected effects of the sanctions felt by fans. YouTube star Malik Ofori, a Chelsea supporter for over 16 years, says he wants players to be freed from any association with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. “FIFA 2022 came out with a team of the season [list] and not one Chelsea player was included,” he says from his home in Accra, Ghana. “All because of the war in Ukraine.” The beloved FIFA video game has become a genuine part of the global connection between fans and club.
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba
Gaming aside, what matters most is the team’s mentality, Ofori says.“We always want to challenge for the Premier League, we always want to challenge for the Champions League. We are not going to be like, ‘Oh, let’s just give it some time.’ That’s for Manchester [United] and Arsenal.
“At Chelsea, every time [we play] we want to win.”
For Debono in London, there’s a grudging acknowledgement that the big money era of Abramovich is over and change is needed. “Everybody loves a big money signing. But I do think this could actually benefit Chelsea,” he says of the U.S. style of sports club leadership, adding that the data-led, analytical approach to recruitment, youth development and coaching will arrive as a tonic to the revolving-door years of managerial changes.
Speaking to fans, it’s clear that the new owners have little time to get their feet under the table in West London. Continuity for Chelsea at the top of English football is a minimum expectation. Keeping Chelsea within touching distance of Liverpool and Manchester City, the era’s two great teams, means the new owners have an enormous challenge on their hands.
Yet, being a fan means being an optimist. “Chelsea are lucky to have these three [bidders],” Chidebelu says from Nigeria. “Look at what they are capable of doing. Look at what they have done.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2022/04/28/anxiety-as-chelsea-fans-around-the-world-face-the-end-of-abramovichs-bottomless-spending/