Chelsea for sale as pressure grows on owner Roman Abramovich - sources

Roman Abramovich is willing to listen to offers for Chelsea as pressure grows over his ownership amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, sources have told ESPN.

The 55-year-old attempted to separate the club from a possible personal sanction from the UK government by passing «stewardship and care» of Chelsea on to its trustees on Saturday.

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However, sources have told ESPN that the trustees are seeking legal advice before responding to Abramovich's instruction due to concerns a charitable foundation is not a suitable entity to run a football club.

In the meantime, Abramovich is understood to be seriously considering selling Chelsea with the UK government under mounting pressure to freeze the assets of high net-worth Russians in England with any alleged links to Vladimir Putin.

Abramovich has always strenuously denied any ties to the Putin regime, and Chelsea have repeatedly previously insisted the club is not for sale.

The club did not respond to a request to clarify this position when contacted by ESPN on Wednesday.

However, if the UK government were to act and punish Abramovich, as one of his assets, Chelsea would be frozen which means he could not sell the club or inject any funds into the club — something which would have huge repercussions for the club.

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for £140 million. The club's latest accounts show he is owed £1.514 billion in loans through parent company Fordstam Limited, which he controls.

When Chelsea announced their latest accounts — a £145.6m loss after tax for the year ending June 30, 2021 despite winning the Champions League — the club admitted