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Written by Martin Graham | April 12 2022
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has competed to buy Spanish soccer club Valencia from Singaporean businessman Peter Lim.
Abramovich is currently trying to sell English Premier League giant Chelsea, who has owned it for the past 19 years after the UK government imposed sanctions on him for being an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin is currently invading neighboring Ukraine with Russian armed forces, which has resulted in various sanctions being imposed on Russia’s economic activities with the rest of Europe as well as Putin’s allies inside and outside the country.
Chelsea was penalized for being owned by Abramovich as well, and the Russian oligarch opted to sell the club and exit the UK altogether to allow the club to operate normally again. The penalties affected the way the club is run and also prevented fans from attending matches at Stamford Bridge to support the team.
Abramovich has set a £3.5 billion price tag for the club and the various bidders are currently trying to outdo each other in a bidding process overseen by the US commercial bank, Wren Group.
It was widely believed that Abramovich would quit football after the Chelsea sale, but reports from Spain now claim the billionaire is trying to get back into the game by acquiring Valencia, which is in deep financial chaos.
Spanish port Plaza Deportiva It reported that a letter attributed to Miguel Zorio, one of Valencia’s bidders, states that the Russian is competing with him to buy LaLiga club once the oligarch finishes selling the blues.
Zorio’s message reportedly reads: “Peter Lim tried to sell the club in London for 250 million euros and did not succeed. Recently, he leaked to the international media that he had two offers to buy, mine and the offer of the Russian oligarch to Chelsea. Hence, he told him that he either puts 50 One million euros each year to make up for the losses he incurs or he sells to us. Whether he likes it or not.”
The sale of Abramovich to Chelsea is expected to be completed later than initially expected given that the last four bidders are given one last chance to improve their bids. Sky News reports that the Raine Group has given a deadline next week for the submission of improved bids.
At this point, Chelsea cannot negotiate new contracts with any players whose contracts expire in the summer due to the sanctions imposed on them. If the sale does not go through, the Blues will not be able to make any significant transfer moves in the summer and could lose all of their players as contracts expire free.
Meanwhile, Valencia is already in too deep a financial predicament to attempt any form of transfer transaction. The 2019 Copa Del Rey winners will have to be sold to be able to function properly next season and not go into management.
