Has Abramovich fallen out of love with his Blues?
The news that Roman Abramovich has put the rebuilding of Stamford Bridge on ice merely confirms the suspicion Chelsea are about to abdicate from the very highest level of club football. In short, they are about to become Arsenal. Over the next few weeks, it’s likely they will lose both their manager and one, or more, of their star players, as well as their new stadium. They have already lost Champions League football. There has been a general acceptance that Antonio Conte will not enter the third year of his contract, despite winning the FA Cup.
The club has also broken off contract negotiations with goalkeeper Thibault Courtois and he is now likely to be sold to Real Madrid.
The future of their most-prized asset, Eden Hazard, is shrouded in doubt, and Brazilian forward Willian is a prime target for Manchester United.
The reason given for the mothballing of the £1billion stadium project is an “unfavourable investment climate”. But it can be no coincidence that Abramovich has yet to have his British visa renewed and has recently been given Israeli citizenship.
It all suggests that the Russian, who has bankrolled the renaissance of the west London club, is losing some of his enthusiasm.
There have already been signs that belts are being tightened. Sights have been lowered on incoming transfers and there’s been far more book-balancing going on.
Chelsea could have sorted the managerial situation by now, but they hesitated over paying Maurizio Sarri’s £7m release clause at Napoli and seem reluctant to stump up Conte’s compensation.
The Blues used to be criticised for throwing money away frivolously, but inaction could be more costly.
At one time, Abramovich blew everyone out of the water in terms of spending. But now he seems to have conceded he can’t compete with the Manchester clubs.
The new stadium was supposed to give a separate and significant financial stream to help with that competition, but Chelsea are going to be stuck in a 40,000-capacity stadium for the foreseeable future.
Arsenal had the same idea when they moved to the Emirates. But the stadium became a millstone.
Arsene Wenger had to sell his best players and was unable to trade at the same levels as others in the top six.
For the Gunners, the last decade has been about trying to finish in the top four, with a domestic cup as a bonus.
It seems that Chelsea are now getting ready to install the same sort of glass ceiling.
This was always going to be a huge close-season for them after finishing outside of the top four for the second time in three years.
But it appears that this is a club lacking direction,