What’s next for Chelsea after Roman Abramovich sells the club?

In the year 2003, Roman Abramovich flew his private jet over west London and stumbled upon a football club named Chelsea—the rest was history. As you may have heard by now, Abramovich has been driven to sell the club he’s now owned for 19 years. The Russian has undoubtedly been one of the most notable football club owner in recent times, overseeing his team’s transformation into a European giant. The Blues won two Champions Leagues, five Premier Leagues, two Europa Leagues, five FA Cups, three League Cups, one Super Cup and one Club World Cup during the better part of the last two decades with Abramovich. This is one of the most impressive overhauls in football history. However, not all hope is lost and there are many positives to look forward to in the future, even with Abramovich on the way out.

Chelsea is notably in debt to Abramovich, owing him just over £1 billion. This debt could’ve taken a significant financial toll on the club, but one of the Russian’s last gestures to the club was to forgive that debt. This could possibly set the Blues up to become even more dominant in the future. Given the power behind financial might of powerhouses such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle—along with their absurdly rich owners—if Abramovich sells to the right buyer, Chelsea can potentially become an even bigger giant in the transfer market. This, along with the reality that the oligarch has left the club in a stable condition, reiterates the fact that the Blues will be just fine in the future.

Roman Abramovich will sell Chelsea, but what’s next for the club after the sale?

Abramovich may be departing, but there’s no denying he left Chelsea with a sustainable structure already in place. Furthermore, this structure doesn’t even require a ton of financial investment as it’s already got talented academy players, a loan army to help raise transfer funds and excellent directors at the club. Directors Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech have been impressive in the transfer market competing against their financially superior competitors and while the former’s future is uncertain, the legendary goalkeeper is likely to remain.

Having a bigger influx of cash can push the Blues to be more competitive in the transfer market, especially with the world’s biggest names, with this structure already in place. In recent times, Chelsea has developed a policy for not getting involved in bidding wars with other clubs for the top players in the game because financially, it didn’t make much sense. This is not to say the Blues lacked the required funds, but with huge transfer fees nowadays, it would not fair well with the Financial Fair Play rules in which the Blues try to abide by these days. The club’s overall financial wellbeing was also at stake. However, now that Abramovich has forgiven the aforementioned debt, it gives the club the chance to start with a clean slate.

Early bidders have already swooped in and submitted offers to Abramovich for the club, but the beloved Russian has promised that he will not rush any sale. If Chelsea can secure richer owners than Abramovich—which is always a possibility—it can return to its status of a transfer market superpower.  The Blues already have the knowledge of how to deal in the transfer market thanks to the brilliance of Granovskaia, and to give her a bigger budget could see Chelsea take another step into becoming the English superpower.

Furthermore, the Blues have had a reputation for sacking managers rather quickly. This model will likely change with new owners and makes Thomas Tuchel a very lucky man. If Chelsea is somehow able to change its model and give the manager more time, we could see a consistency from the Blues that we’ve never really seen under Abramovich. This is not a slight against Abramovich either, his model has worked wonders for Chelsea, but its hiring and firing of managers has led to some criticism over the years.

Blues supporters should not be worried as it is believed that this sale can actually take Chelsea a step further in the process of becoming the top English club and dethroning Man City. As for now though, it’s come time to say goodbye to Abramovich, who undeniably is one of the most involved, caring owners in the history of European football.

What do you think the next step will be for the Blues following their sale? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!