Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich stakes claim to £1.6bn lent to club ahead of proposed takeover - reports

Chelsea’s proposed sale to one of a number of bidders has been reportedly held up after owner Roman Abramovich made a claim for the £1.6 billion the club owes him. When Abramovich took over the club he made a series of loans to Chelsea which he had never appeared keen to call in, but which in theory he could have requested from the club.

Ad/> Those loans totalled £1.6bn at the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, and Abramovich reacted swiftly to potential punishments. Premier League'See what next year brings' — Havertz hopes to one day lift Ballon d'OrYESTERDAY AT 15:42 Initially the Russian billionaire, an associate of his country’s president, Vladimir Putin, put the club into the guardianship of Chelsea’s board, which had no legal basis.

Abramovich then put the club up for sale, and in turn had his assets frozen by the British government after a string of sanctions hit the Russian state and prominent citizens. It had been believed that Abramovich would write off the debt, and said net proceeds from the takeover would go to a charitable organisation for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

However, there was never any clarity on how the deal might take place given the sanctions Abramovich was hit with. Rice, Richarlison and Antony — Three players to rebuild Man Utd after exodus The Man Utd farewell tour, embarrassing but essential — The Warm-Up Brooks shares that he is cancer free and is cleared to continue playing football Multiple sources claim that the oligarch now wants the debt to be paid back to the parent club of Chelsea, which he still owns despite it being frozen.