Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s net worth has reportedly fallen by £2.4billion in 2020 as the global health pandemic hits the financial market.
The Moscow Times state that Russia’s top billionaires have lost a combined £50.6billion in 2020, including Abramovich.
Although the 53-year-old still has a fortune of around £10.95billion, there must be some questions surrounding the Chelsea fans; could this affect the club, especially as the summer transfer window is only a few months away?
Chelsea have built a transfer war chest
Since the introduction of FFP in 2011 which restricts the club’s owner from injecting over £25m per year, Chelsea have not been as reliant on Abramovich as they once were.
Chelsea introduced the loan system which has helped the club to generate funds and began investing in youth which could be another source of profit.
With the summer transfer ban in which Chelsea spent just £38million on Mateo Kovacic, the Blues have made the biggest profit of any club in the world in the past two seasons (£186.5m profit) according to the CIES Football Observatory.
This means Chelsea will have plenty in reserve to spend on this summer transfer window, even without Abramovich’s help.
What could take a big hit, however, is Chelsea’s new stadium plans.
Stadium plans and possible change of ownership
With his visa renewal denied by the UK Government due to tension between the UK and Russia, Abramovich has been absent from Chelsea games (although he was present in the 2019 Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan) since May 2018.
The plan to redevelop Stamford Bridge with a reported investment of £500m already in place has been put on hold indefinitely (Mirror).
It’s hard to imagine the plan continues with Abramovich’s visa issue and the current global market situation.
Another possibility would be a change of ownership at Chelsea.
Abramovich has seen plenty of offers to sell Chelsea but decided to turn them down, including an offer from LA Dodgers’ billionaire owner Todd Boehly.
His prohibition from attending Chelsea games in the UK and the effects of the global health pandemic could perhaps change his mind on this one.