Why Roman Abramovich rejected chance to buy Tottenham before turning attention to Chelsea

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly had a chance to buy Tottenham Hotspur before he purchased their London rivals in 2003. Chelsea's former director Mark Taylor broke the news while talking with the Straight Outta Cobham podcast. Mark Taylor revealed that Roman Abramovich was also in talks with Tottenham before he set his eyes on Chelsea. 

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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was in talks with Tottenham before buying Chelsea

However, neither Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich nor Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has ever confirmed the news. Mark Taylor, however, claimed that there were talks between Chelsea's current owner and Daniel Levy back in 2003.

Mark Taylor, while speaking to The Athletic, said "The key point was that when (Chelsea chairman) Ken (Bates) met Roman Abramovich and Eugene Tenenbaum they made it very clear that they wanted to buy control. I think the story is they had seen Daniel Levy the previous day."

Mark Taylor added, "Chelsea had been looking for investors for about 18 months and we'd had a lot of time-wasters and Roman seemed viable. Nobody really knew who he was - and so on a Friday morning his lawyers brought in Forbes magazine from America and I think he was No. 15 on the list with X billion dollars, which seemed to be quite a good starting point."

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When did Roman Abramovich purchase Chelsea?

Roman Abramovich officially purchased Chelsea Football Club in 2003 and made it one of the top clubs in England. Roman Abramovich changed the course of the club after his takeover. The Russian billionaire pumped millions into the club to sign recognised players in order to propel Chelsea to new heights. Since the time Roman Abramovich took over the club, Chelsea have won 16 major trophies including five Premier League titles, the Champions League, five FA Cups and a Europa League title.

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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich net worth

It is reported that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has a net worth of around £10.95 billion. Many sources claimed that the Chelsea owner's net worth took a massive hit of £2.4 billion this year.

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