Roman Abramovich 'still angry' about Chelsea exit as new accusations come to light
Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is still disappointed with how he was forced to sell the club, a former player has claimed after speaking with people close to the Russian oligarch
Roman Abramovich still harbours resentment over the fact that he was forced into selling Chelsea, according to former Blues midfielder John-Obi Mikel.
Abramovich, 58, took over the Londoners back in 2003 and ploughed in hundreds of millions of pounds to turn Chelsea into Premier League title winners and two-time European champions. But the Russian oligarch's reign came to an end in 2022 shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Government were urged to place sanctions upon Abramovich given his alleged links to Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his assets were soon frozen.
Chelsea were then sold on to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital just months later - and more than two years on, Abramovich is still bitter about the ordeal.
That's according to Mikel, who played for the club during Abramovich's premiership. He revealed on his Obi One podcast that he had managed to speak to people close to Abramovich about the situation.
READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd working on two deals, Arsenal close to signing, Liverpool eye left-backREAD MORE: Enzo Maresca begins Chelsea clearout with two stars as Premier League rival agree dealMikel said: “It’s just unfortunate what happened: he lost the football club. I still speak to people close to him and it still pains him. He’s still angry about what happened.
“He’s not happy that he lost his ‘baby’ because Chelsea Football Club was his football club. He really cared about the football club, not just the players but the fans.”
Mikel's claims come in the wake of a new report in The Guardian which alleges that Abramovich dodged paying taxes on the running of his fleet of luxury yachts.
It's claimed that a joint investigation has uncovered that an offshore hire scheme has seemingly helped companies owned by Abramovich avoid duties which could potentially amount to millions. Experts have said the arrangements in question could equate to deliberate tax evasion.
The annual cost of running a yacht is often 10 per cent of the purchase price with private vessels subject to VAT on the goods and services they acquire.
Lawyers for Abramovich - who owns a number of superyachts, including the 162-metre (533ft) Eclipse - have said their client had always acted in accordance with professional tax advice and denied any knowledge of alleged tax evasion.
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