UFC legend Conor McGregor wants Chelsea FC.
The fighter has made some outrageous claims in the past. However, his most recent tweet may top them all. As billionaire Roman Abramovich rushes to sell one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world amidst growing economic sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs, McGregor says he wants to buy the team.
While it seems like this type of purchase would be out of reach for an athlete, a Conor McGregor bid for Chelsea might not be as unrealistic as it seems.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is hastily selling Chelsea FC
Reports are saying that Roman Abramovich has put Chelsea up for sale with a asking price of $4 billion. He has been a fantastic owner & will be such a shame when he sells the club. He loves the club & because of unfortunate circumstances. pic.twitter.com/iVoWxsxdtJ
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) March 2, 2022
As war rages in Ukraine, Western countries, including the U.S. and UK, are sanctioning wealthy, prominent Russians in the hopes of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion.
Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has not faced any personal sanctions yet. However, if the UK government can prove the owner — who made his fortune thanks, at least in part, to his political ties at the fall of the Soviet Union — is connected to Putin, Chelsea could be an asset the government seizes, per The Athletic.
Abramovich bought the club in 2003 for approximately $190 million. Now, after trying to appease UK officials calling for sanctions on him by handing over control of the club to his charitable foundation, the billionaire has put the team on the market. Chelsea is now worth almost $4 billion (£3 billion), per Forbes.
While he’s promised not to “fast-track” the sale, Abramovich — whose personal fortune has dropped from $13.6 billion to $12.4 billion since the war started — is an incredibly motivated seller.
English Premier League “Big Six” clubs (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool) don’t come up for sale that often. The last transaction happened in 2010 when John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool. This means that there will be many bidders for Abramovich’s club.
After a recent tweet, it sounds like a Conor McGregor Chelsea bid will be among them.
Conor McGregor’s Chelsea FC interest came out on Twitter
There are plenty of the usual billionaire suspects putting in offers for Chelsea. This group includes Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and US billionaire Todd Boehly (part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers), who’…….