Cape Town - Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is not interested in "bargain" bids
for the Premier League club and remains fully involved at Stamford
Bridge, according to chairperson Bruce Buck.
The Russian billionaire is not believed to have attended a home match
since the spring of 2018, having taken Israeli citizenship after
encountering visa renewal issues in Britain.
Plans for a new 60 000-seat stadium were shelved around the same
time, but Buck said Abramovich has no intention to offload the club.
"So far as I know, absolutely not. To the contrary - I have never
heard a word from Mr Abramovich: 'Let's get this ready for a sale,' or
something," Buck told the Guardian newspaper.
"Because of the political situation, there are people who think they
might want to buy Chelsea Football Club at a bargain. We do get
enquiries and we really have nothing to say to these people.
"In terms of being involved, in looking at new players, talking about
whether to extend players' contracts, do we buy this player, do we sell
this player, (Abramovich) was always intimately involved in that from
day one and is just as intimately involved now.
"He talks to Marina (Granovskaia) - the board member who supervises
the football operation - several times a day, every day. Marina has
been doing that for seven or eight years. That hasn't let up or changed
at all."