Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich is probably the only man in the history of football who has changed the sport without ever having playing the game. Since his shock takeover of Chelsea in July 2003, Roman has continually poured in hundreds of millions in an attempt to take Chelsea to the pinnacle of glory and to immortality.
Football had seen Florentino Perez and his famous “Galacticos”, but never would anyone have imagined that someone could invest about 125 million pounds in a single year. In his second year, about 70 million worth oil was exchanged for players.
The radical changes at Chelsea suddenly heaved the team to the top, and in Roman’s second year, they clinched the Premier League, ending a wait of 50 years for the Chelsea fans. They also managed to win it the following year. But Roman was not content with that. He wanted the cup that has been tagged as the one for true champions, the Champions League.
More money, more players, a few coaches and few years later, Chelsea managed to reach Roman desired Cup final, only to be thwarted by Manchester United. Roman didn’t lose heart and continued his flow of money. Chelsea managed to win the domestic double under Ancelotti in the 2009-10 season, but the Champions League still eluded them. After a successful campaign, Chelsea let go a few core players, and not many reinforcements came in. Rumours were afloat that Roman lost interest in the club.
The team looked certain of winning the BPL again, but the lack of bench strength showed and a slump began. Then came another vintage Roman show. From his oil reserves, he extracted 75 million pounds to buy just two players, in the winter transfer season. Fernando Torres became the most expensive player in British football history and David Luiz joined him at the Club.
Inspired by his success, the oil world followed suit. Manchester City was bought by a sheik prince, and similarly millions have been spent since then. Perez returned to Real and was inspired to prove he was still the one with the deepest pockets. He spent approximately 250 million, breaking the world record for a transfer twice in a matter of weeks. Transfer fees have skyrocketed, astonishing amounts money have been splashed around.
UEFA has been forced into implementing a “Fair Play Rule” which will limit the amount of money spent in a transfer season, which might come into action from the next year. 3 months of transfer period remains, without any regulation. Will madness be unleashed? I think it’s a fair bet that it will be.
Tags: Champions League, Chelsea, EPL, Football, Premier League, Roman Abramovich
