Roman Abramovich has already set his eyes on owning a new football club after being forced to sell Chelsea.
The soon-to-be-former Chelsea owner is reportedly in talks to buy Turkish Super Lig club Goztepe amid the sale of the west London club. Whilst the process of Chelsea’s sale is ongoing, Abramovich is already moving on with his life post-Chelsea.
The negotiations between outgoing Goztepe president Mehmet Sepil and Abramovich’s representatives have already begun. Sepil recently announced that he will be leaving his role as the president of the club but would keep hold of duties until a replacement was found.
Abramovich seems to be that replacement with Sepil and club executives planning a face-to-face meeting with the Russian for the coming days.
The net worth of Roman Abramovich has slumped to £10.21billion over the past few months – which is still more than enough to take control of a football club.
The billionaire put the Stamford Bridge club up for sale in early March before he was hit with sanctions by the UK government. Abramovich had his assets frozen as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, due to his ties with Vladamir Putin, preventing him from making money off Chelsea or its sale.
Founded in 1925, Goztepe played in the third division as recently as 2009. Although they have a large fanbase they have not won the first division since 1950 or the Turkish Cup since 1970.
Not only have they struggled of late, but Goztepe is in serious danger of relegation into the second tier – sitting eight points from safety with eight games remaining.