Edge's News: Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich is Trying to Sell off Chelsea amid fear of Sanction

Roman Abramovich could struggle to find a buyer for Chelsea after it emerged that the new owners would face a £2.2bn bill to redevelop Stamford Bridge on top of the Russian’s £4bn asking price for the club.

The club has been put up for sale by Abramovich, who is fearing sanctions from the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich has pumped almost £1.5bn into the club since taking charge in 2003 and he wants to recoup that cash on top of his valuation of the Blues.

That asking price alone could be too much for most potential buyers already but the Daily Mail claim the work needed on Stamford Bridge has further complicated matters.

Chelsea have twice attempted to move away from Stamford Bridge but failed with attempts to move to Earl’s Court and Battersea.

The club therefore decided to stay at Stamford Bridge, opting instead to modernise the stadium on the same site.

Chelsea applied for planning permission in 2017 but the plans were shelved in 2018, with the club citing the poor financial landscape as the wrong time to undergo the operation.

That, of course, has only been heightened by the pandemic but the estimation at the time was that the work would cost around £1.4bn to build the 60,000-seater stadium.

But those costs have soared to an eye-watering £2.2bn – an astonishing £800m rise on previous estimates.

This is because the Blues would have to have a three-year tenancy at Wembley during the build of the new stadium, which has soared in price due to infrastructure costs increasing.

That, combined with the £4bn that Abramovich is demanding, would price out most buyers and means it would be at least a decade before the new investors could see a return on their money.