Chelsea will be a desirable football club for many given its status within the game, but the £3bn value placed on the club by Roman Abramovich is steep, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
He said: “That does seem excessive because it effectively values Chelsea at more than Manchester United and we know their value because we can look at their prices on the stock exchange.
“Chelsea have a much smaller stadium, they don’t have the same global fanbase as Manchester United and there are ongoing issues with regards Stamford Bridge.
“Most commentators take the view that it’s not big enough to generate the money that somebody would want going forward. There is no capacity to increase Stamford Bridge given where it’s located in London so therefore moving elsewhere in London would be very expensive indeed.”
On Wednesday, Abramovich said he plans to sell the club and revealed he will not ask “for any loans to be repaid” which is significant for Chelsea.
Maguire said: “Chelsea don’t have the ability to repay the loans. If you take a look at their most recent balance sheet, I think they had about £16m in the accounts, so the capacity to repay the loans wasn’t there. Not that there was ever any intention from Roman Abramovich to call in the loans.
“In terms of the sale, provided he gets the right price I think the loans, according to the statement, are going to be written off and therefore the proceeds of the sale, less any costs incurred, would be deducted and the remainder would go to the facilities and the charity that Roman Abramovich is trying to direct his money.”
Source: BBC