Chelsea Chairman Reaffirms Abramovich Commitment To Club

Abramovich has transformed Chelsea into a major English and European powerhouse since buying the club in 2003.

Under his ownership, the Blues have won five Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League twice.

However, the Russian billionaire has been denied entry into the United Kingdom since 2018 and has not watched any of the club’s last 43 home games.

The British government delayed renewing Abramovich’s visa last year and he withdrew his application entirely.

There have been suggestions that Abramovich’s interest in Chelsea has waned but Buck has denied those rumours and confirmed that bids to buy the club have been rebuffed.

“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.

“Because of the political situation, there are people who think they might want to buy Chelsea football club at a bargain. We do get inquiries 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.”