- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Signings, sackings and success: How Abramovich transformed Chelsea
Roman Abramovich's decision to sell Chelsea has sent shockwaves throughout English football but he leaves with the club firmly established as one of the giants of the European game.
The billionaire, alleged to have close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has not so far been named on a growing British sanctions list targeting Russian banks, businesses and pro-Kremlin tycoons following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But the 55-year-old has decided that selling Chelsea is in the best interests of the club, fans and employees.
The Chelsea Abramovich will leave are dramatically different from the club he bought in 2003 for just £140 million ($187 million) at a time when Manchester United and Arsenal were the dominant forces in the Premier League.
The club were transformed from also-rans teetering on the brink of a financial crisis into one of the richest in the Premier League thanks to the deep pockets of the Russian, who routinely bankrolled blockbuster transfers.
He has been rewarded with a staggering 19 major trophies in his 19-year reign -- changing the face of English and European football.
Abramovich's arrival at Stamford Bridge also set a trend for a wave of foreign investment in the Premier League
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all American-owned, Manchester City have won five of the past 10 titles thanks to Abu Dhabi backing, while Newcastle are now bankrolled by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
- 'Special One' -
One of Abramovich's early masterstrokes was to bring in Jose Mourinho as manager to replace Claudio Ranieri in 2004.
The self-styled "Special One", fresh from Champions League success with Porto, delivered a first league championship since 1955 in his first season and repeated the feat in 2006.
The Portuguese departed in 2007 but despite frequent managerial changes the trophies continued to flood in as the Blues belied the idea that stability breeds success.
A total of 13 men have managed the club over the past 19 years, with Mourinho and Guus Hiddink doing so on two occasions.
The unheralded Roberto Di Matteo succeeded where big-name managers Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti failed by winning the club's first Champions League with an ageing team in 2012.
Even then the Italian was sacked three months into the following season.
Mourinho's two spells account for half of Chelsea's six league titles in their history, yet Abramovich twice decided to part ways with the Portuguese.
The same fate befell the club's all-time top goalscorer, Frank Lampard, last year but the Russian's ruthless approach continued to reap the rewards.
Within four months of succeeding Lampard, Thomas Tuchel was celebrating the club's second Champions League title on the field with Abramovich in Porto last year.
Tuchel's admission that it was the first time the pair had met underlined the hands-off approach Abramovich took to the day-to-day running of the club.
Director Marina Granovskaia, a close ally of the owner, took the lead on the recruitment of players and managers.
But the Russian's wealth, estimated by Forbes on Wednesday at $12.4 billion, underpinned two decades of almost unbroken success.
Abramovich has said he will not call in the £1.5 billion worth of loans owed to him by the club and will donate all net proceeds from the sale of Chelsea to the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The decision not to ask for loans to be repaid should boost interest in a club now established among European football's elite.
But it will take deep pockets to come anywhere close to replicating the success to which Chelsea fans have become accustomed.
H.E.Young--AMWN