Is Abramovich preparing to leave Chelsea

January 20, 201115 yr

Roman Abramovich is rumoured to be on the verge of pulling out of Chelsea and putting his money into Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

The move is said to have been triggered by Abramovich's disenchantment with his Chelsea dream and the lure of the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

That last item is the real driving force with megabucks to be made out of the tournament when it is staged in Russia in seven years time. Plenty of time for Abramovich to mull over the move and build Zenit into a really potent European force.

But hang on a minute. Hasn't the Russian multi billionaire got more than enough dosh to do the lot - stay at Chelsea and put money into Zenit - and goodness knows how many more clubs and projects come to that?

The word in London though is that Abramovich could be set to walk away from Stamford Bridge and start building up his empire elsewhere - Zenit being the top of the list at the moment. Tottenham are alert to it as are Arsenal and all the major powers that be. One reason for Steven Piennar's move from Everton to Spurs is that they want to be ready to take over the mantle of London's top club should Abramovich go and Chelsea start to crumble.

But it's not all good news for Spurs. Lanky England striker Peter Crouch could be on his way out and a possible replacement is Newcastle United's rumbustious hitman, Andy Carroll. A number of clubs are in the hunt for Carroll however and if he is sold Newcastle owner may well have to move to Russia himself to escape the enraged Toon Army!

:indifferent0018: Hopefully a load of old rumour bollocks...