Chelsea for sale as pressure grows on owner Roman Abramovich - sources

According to sources, the trustees are looking for legal advice before responding to the instructions ofAbramovich due to the fact that a charitable foundation is not a suitable entity to run a football club.

The UK government is under increasing pressure to freeze the assets of high net-worth Russians in England with any alleged links to Vladimir Putin, and that's why it's believed that Abramovich is considering selling his club.

The club is not for sale, andAbramovich has always strenuously denied any ties to the Putin regime.

The club did not respond to a request to clarify their position.

If the UK government were to act and punish Abramovich, he would not be able to sell the club or inject funds into it, something which would have huge repercussions for the club.

In 2003 he bought the club for 140 million dollars. The club's latest accounts show he is owed over a billion dollars in loans from his parent company.

The club admitted at the time that it was reliant on Fordstam for its continued financial support, despite the fact that it had won the trophy.

Hansjoerg Wyss claims that Abramovich contacted interested parties on Tuesday.

Abramovich is trying to sell his villas in England. He wants to get rid of them quickly. Wyss said in an interview published on Wednesday that he and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea.

According to sources,Abramovich has told potential buyers in the past that he valued the club at around 3 billion dollars.

Abramovich is asking for too much at the moment. You know that he is owed 2 billion dollars by Chelsea. There is no money for Chelsea. The meaning is that those who buy the club should compensate the owner.

Todd Boehly, an American businessman, tried to buy a London club before the coronaviruses hit, but was turned down.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man according to a Forbes study from 2021, held preliminary talks with Abramovich over a possible purchase.

Bob, the brother of Ratcliffe, told the radio station that they were a significant way apart on valuations.

The difficulty in renovation of the bridge is one of the complicating factors for another buyer. The plans to rebuild the 41,800-seater stadium and knock down the existing structure were put on hold when the UK investor visa expired. The site's freehold is held by the owners of the club.