Wyss, an “investor angel” for Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea

Roman Abramovich’s days as Chelsea owner seem to be drawing to a closeand the sale of the club is an increasingly feasible end. This has been confirmed by the Swiss Hansjorg Wyss, one of the investors who has been invited to send an offer to Abramovich by the Stamford Bridge team.

Wyss lives in the United States, but confirmed this possibility to the Swiss newspaper view. Businessman He has an estimated fortune of more than 5,000 million. euros and is part of the group of four people who yesterday, Tuesday, received an offer to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.

“Like all other oligarchs, Abramovich is in a panic. He is trying to sell all his villas in England and also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,” Wyss explained. that he does not know the exact sale price, but that he knows that he will have to make an offer to the Russian tycoon before the end of this week.

A problem of 7,000 million

Hansjorg Wyss is sure that he will not be able to afford the investment alone. The club’s debt, the share price and the project for the new stadium could raise the investment above 7,000 million euros. An amount never seen in a football club, but with the sale of Chelsea it could be given. During his two decades as owner, Abramovich loaned 2.4 billion euros to the London team. A debt that the future owner would have to assume, in addition, the sale price that Abramovich himself dictates. The oligarch came to reject more than 2,600 million for Chelseabut now the urge to sell could lower your expectations.

Even if the Russian tycoon were sanctioned by the British government, Boris Johnson could eventually freeze his assets in the UK. This would force Abramovich to get rid of Chelsea, although he could demand the repayment of the loans granted. throughout this time, reaching 2,400 million euros.

But what most complicates the sale of the team is its stadium, in which they have played since its foundation, 117 years ago. When the reform of Stamford Bridge was to begin, in 2018, its cost was estimated at 1,700 million euros. But Abramovich backed down at the last minute citing an “unfavorable investment climate”, as Chelsea put it in an official statement. The team blue He did not want to refer to the refusal of the British Ministry of the Interior to deny Abramovich a visa at that time.

Four years later, the cost of the project has increased and is now close to 2.7 billion euros. Adding the costs of the stadium to the debt and the price of the club, the investment would rise to 7,000 million euros. Hence, Wyss is looking for partners to undertake the investment…