Mikel Obi Opens Up on How Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich Felt After Losing Chelsea

• Roman Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea Football Club in 2022 after the UK government sanctioned him
• He sold the club to American consortium led by Todd Boehly and backed by investment firm Clearlake Capital
• Former midfielder Mikel Obi has explained how the Russian oligarch felt about losing the club after 19 years

Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel has opened up on how former owner Roman Abramovich felt after losing the club after 19 years of ownership in May 2022.

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 from British billionaire Ken Bates and immediately transformed into one of the best in England and European football.

The Russian billionaire agreed to sell the club in March 2022 and after many weeks American consortium led by Todd Boehly and backed by asset management firm Clearlake Capital won the bid to buy the club.

The club has not remained the same ever since and trophies, which were the identity of the club under Roman have not been won by the men's team since he left.

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Mikel shares Abramovich’s feeling

Super Eagles legend John Obi Mikel spent 11 years at Chelsea and had a close relationship with the former governor of Chukotka, has disclosed how the billionaire felt about selling the club.

“There is no Chelsea Football Club today. It's just unfortunate Roman Abramovich lost the football club,” Mikel said on the Obi One Podcast.

“I still speak with people close to him, it still pains him. He's still angry about what happened. He's not happy about it. It's like he lost his baby because the football club was his baby. He really cared about the football club.

“I remember when we wanted to join the Super League, the fans spoke and he immediately called it off because he listens to the fans.”

“We have won so many trophies, and it's all down to this guy,” he concluded.

The club was sold for £4.2 billion, 2.5 billion in value and 1.7bn debt written off by Roman Abramovich, but he never received a penny from the proceeds of the sale.

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As noted by Goal, one of the conditions given by the UK government was for the money to go to the victims of war in Ukraine, and as of April 2024, the funds are still frozen in a UK Bank.

Abramovich indebted to the UK

Issues surrounding Abramovich’s ownership at Chelsea have not been fully resolved and a recent report by Bureau of Investigative Journalism via Sun UK suggests he could be owing the UK government up to £1 billion in unpaid taxes.

The billionaire through his lawyers have denied these allegations, claiming he sought expert and professional tax and legal advice and acted accordingly.

Mikel sends cryptic post to Jackson

Legit.ng previously reported that Mikel sent a cryptic post to Nicolas Jackson after the striker hit a poor run of form and his lack of goals cost the team.

The legend dropped a hint on his Instagram page that he is coming for the striker in his next episode and he did not disappoint, claiming the club can't win with him.

Source: Legit.ng