Billionaire fuels speculation Roman Abramovich could sell Chelsea as sanction calls grow

Leading business figures have added to speculation that Roman Abramovich could by ready to sell Chelsea.

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claimed he was given the chance to buy Chelsea, and is preparing a consortium to submit an offer for the Stamford Bridge club.

An American-based merchant bank is understood to have contacted potential buyers, claiming to represent the Blues in a potential sale.

Chelsea has not responded to Wyss’ claims or suggestions that the west London club could now be sold.

Russian-Israeli billionaire Abramovich is understood to want to retain his ownership of Chelsea.

But that could effectively prove close to impossible should the UK government impose sanctions on the 55-year-old, who has owned the west London club since 2003.

Keir Starmer called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose sanctions on Abramovic, as the Labour leader addressed MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The 86-year-old billionaire Wyss has admitted he will look into the details of any possible deal to buy Chelsea, with the asking price thought to push beyond £2billion.

"Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly," Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.

"I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.

"I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much.

"You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion. But Chelsea has no money.

"As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price," he added.

Abramovich attempted to step back from the daily running of Chelsea on Saturday, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Blues boss has tried to hand the “stewardship and care” of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation trustees.

That led the Charity Commission to contact the Stamford Bridge club for more detail on Abramovich’s plans, after several of the trustees raised concerns over technicalities.

Abramovich is understood to have attempted to hand control of Chelsea to the foundation trustees in a bid to protect the club.

The Chelsea owner would not receive any protection from sanctions through stepping away from daily control at Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich’s spokesperson told the PA news agency on Monday that the Russian-Israeli businessman was attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Swiss billionaire Wyss, who founded medical device firm Synthes USA, insisted he could only consider a deal for Chelsea with a clutch of investment partners.

“I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners,” said Wyss.

“But I have to examine the general conditions first.

“But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone.

“If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.”