A Brief History Of: Abramovich's First Chelsea Transfers

[@MrGran2]

As a 10 year old I was a bit late catching the football bug. I had no real links anywhere so picked Chelsea to support because I was born in London, liked blue and thought Gianfranco Zola was really cool. A few weeks later he left for Cagliari and I was devastated. But then...

[@phoenix-king779]

Bro i dod not start watching till i Was 15😂

[@Gonyos]

I did watch Chelsea when they have Zola, Hasselbaink, Petit, Geremi, LeSaux, Desailly, De Goey, Poyet, etc. That time, I was about 14 and did not really care with PL clubs bc on that era Serie A is more intense.

[@TunaStrata]

Do we really need a link to support clubs? Do we only need support 1 club?

[@michaelpyatt831]

Roman tried to buy Cagliari just to transfer zola back to Chelsea !!

[@footballislife7591]

We should give mangers time and trust their process Abramovich- *No we don't do that here*

[@chalchotepaanilaa5293]

Your name and pfp are so related 😂😂

[@prometheustv6558]

I mean it gets results

[@jatinsinghyadav5941]

@@prometheustv6558 or maybe you underachieved

[@athayphom3551]

Better, abrahimovic is a legend

[@NostalgiNorden]

Too be fair - no one seems to do that nowadays.

[@explosivereactionstv7414]

He was spending money like i did on FIFA a few years ago

[@spark556]

Plastic club

[@pacosushi7707]

@@spark556 Mr COmedy.

[@_Tricky_]

It’s called money laundering mate

[@Henry-b3j]

@@_Tricky_ he is a bit of a shady character ngl

[@pipebombhs1412]

@@spark556 thats mancity

[@CooooCoooo123]

One request: If you can please increase the volume of telephonic conversations in the upcoming vids. The rest all fine and clear.

[@TheBake1986]

That summer was amazing, I remember checking the papers thinking “who have we signed today?”

[@myfriendscallmebern]

not too different from this past summer to be honest!

[@devilski1764]

Small plastic oil club

[@christianopulinaldo8319]

@@devilski1764 bigger and better than man 💲hitty

[@seventeenseconds1698]

@@christianopulinaldo8319 Behave. You’re part of the same hypocrisy.

[@christianopulinaldo8319]

@@seventeenseconds1698 17 seconds oof

[@nileshmehta8644]

The best signing was made an year after when we hired Mourinho

[@thebeardfather1st]

Amen to that bro 🙌

[@neetasarawade6681]

We ?

[@SeanNumalo]

Please do a continuation of this sort of series. Including a part 2 of Chelsea's transfers and perhaps Real Madrids Galacticos etc 🙏🏼

[@iwtfrc9831]

Imagine if abramovich had bought Arsenal Wenger's legacy would be so different

[@Yky-xh7ej]

Messi, ronaldo , mbappe , robben all would have been bought by wenger ; imagine how monstrous that team would have been

[@이연우-l4g9t]

if that happened, arsenal would have dominated world football for some time

[@8a42saptarshishaoo8]

Most underrated comment I have ever read

[@sarang5686]

And what if Abramovich then sacked Wenger on his first run of bad results

[@footballfanatic1403]

Arsenal owner's are among top 10 richest club owners and not a lot of difference between them and Roman's net worth

[@mha2263]

Rescued us from bankruptcy and now turned us into one of England's most elite clubs and up there with the best in Europe. Sure his patience is questionable but you can't deny the success that came with it.

[@Yamcha291]

We qualified for champions league before he bought us so we got the money from it

[@goodevil1227]

Stereo gave everyone the bag

[@hurleycapetown8420]

Pretty crazy how his decision changed the EPL , imagine he bought Spurs it’s crazy to think how different the last 15 years would be.

[@natsudama4604]

Even roman wouldn't make bottleham win a trophy 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@gavinperry8433]

Arsenal fans : so this is what an caring owner looks like

[@mahitanmandez1284]

I know chelsea were top 4 before 2003 but if Roman didnt buy Chelsea, they wouldnt have won the UCL and many more trophies

[@newrecruit100]

Maybe not. But at some point down the line we would’ve been taken over. It’s how football Has shifted over the past decade

[@corachgambler]

thats why they spent the money, in order to compete. i hate it when owners that actually care about the club get slandered while im stuck with a cheap bastard who wont spend a penny

[@Jonathan-tq9cm]

It's mostly arsenal fans and united fans complaining about our "suggar daddy" They dotn even know the history between chelsea

[@krishnawidardjo5777]

Yeah without Cech, Drogba, and all of other transfers we wouldn't win

[@nyk2000m]

Ask any football fans, whom would u want as owner: A. Glazers the Bloodsuckers B. Vincent "The Red Dragon" Tan C. Stan "Invisible Man" Kroenke D. Roman "Oligarch" Abramovich

[@thegreatman3649]

The guy who makes the voice overs needs a pay rise.

[@diogocosta1305]

@TheGreat Man this must be Joe's burner account 🤣🤣🤣

[@eosobande]

This story did not originally appear on the Athletic.

[@Yky-xh7ej]

Do one for florentino perez as well

[@roningarcia5771]

I still remember when people were yanking their hair because Roman spent around 100 mil on transfers. Seeing how Barcelona spent over 200 mil on Dembele and Coutinho who have combined for like 15 goals, Roman was a genius.

[@tomgolding9478]

Not really, the Market has changed hasn't it? In the 04/05 season, Chelsea earnt £50.8 million a season from TV, prize money, etc. Liverpool last season, who won the title like Chelsea did that season, earnt £174.6 million. as you can see, the income of clubs from TV and prize money has more than tripled in just fifteen years. and this has happened to big clubs in other leagues as well. So it's not really that outlandish that transfer fee's have become as inflated as they have. as explained in the video, a hundred million was ludicrous amounts of money back then, for a team that didn't even win the league (they were way off the pace), they had to spend another £90 odd million the season after to win the league. Roman has done some smart things as Chelsea owner (investing in the youth academy to make it the best in the country, appointing people to the board who sell well), but calling him a genius because he went out their and spent nearly 2/3's of what the other nineteen clubs spent combined that season, and that's not taking into account that a lot of those clubs had to sell to buy (i.e United spent £56 million that season, but received £59 million in transfer fees). The Nineteen other clubs that season had a net spend of £75.5 million (money received on transfers taken away from money spent). Chelsea that season spent £168.7 million net. More than double the other premier league clubs. I mean, if I took over amazon tomorrow, made them a few billion, I wouldn't expect to be called a genius. Roman wasn't a genius he was just so much more rich than everyone else.

[@lnonno9321]

@@tomgolding9478 very nice point

[@SamisAga1]

To be honest, firstly market is changed, as teams get triple the money they normally get now, also I am Barcelona fan and our only flop is coutinho, also please don't tell me he played in wrong position, he couldn't do anything as a 10 too, or he didn't done anything in Bayern, he might have scored that one but he would have if it was 3-0, we already did gave up at 5-2, that's why we got humiliated rather than a big loss, Dembele is injury prone but this season he changed a lot and dint get injured for half the season and still goes good, as for Griezmann, he had a terrible 1st season but his 2nd, which is now, is great, he was just off form 2-3 matches but he has 6 goal 6 assist in the league and above 20 goal contribution all comps

[@lordgemini2376]

Market Inflation

[@rajeevverma1723]

Finally 👊

[@kelvinsudirman4072]

Abramovic could have bought Arsenal if only the bank he hired to study the economy of PL clubs at that time didn't mistakenly assume that Arsenal was categorically not for sale--which in fact not true--because according to David Dein in his book if buyout offer were to come during that period their management would have seriously considered the offer.

[@aynes8099]

That would had been whole another story. Wenger out would have happened a lot sooner :D

[@phantomsixthman8807]

​@@aynes8099 Nah remember during that stretch of 2001-2006 Wenger's Arsenal was one of the most feared teams in Europe, and with the financial backing of someone like Abramovich, surely would have won at least 2 champions league trophies in that time span. Even after 2006, wenger kept us in the top 4 every year just spending below 25million lol. As an arsenal fan I wish roman had bought the club :(

[@aynes8099]

@@phantomsixthman8807 maybe.

[@rashidkhalid3970]

I remember that era and Chelsea were in first season were buying the good English players than they upgraded to quality players than slowly they started getting big names and just took arsenal out of the top 2 for years.

[@the_one_the_only4651]

Tifo, can you do a video about liquidated clubs and which clubs you predict to dissolve (mainly those currently participating in the EFL) in the next few years. Would make an interesting video.

[@m.aununu.musaffa7466]

Wanna see that

[@the_one_the_only4651]

@@m.aununu.musaffa7466 Errr? Yes please. It's been two fucking months ffs and despite Tifo telling me that they'd make a video about it, I haven't heard a peep back from them.

[@JoeAriminvm]

That game v Liverpool is vastly overlooked. We could've lived in a world where AFC Chelsea is 10th in League Two and spurs have an european cup in its trophy cabinet.

[@ymca4547]

Madrid selling Makelele was madness. Good for Chelsea though.

[@miz5138]

Roman Abramovich-Jose Mourinho-Chelsea, it’s almost like they were destined. Back then Roman had other options but chose Chelsea. Jose who was a fresh European Champion had other big clubs banging on his door but he chose Chelsea. And the rest as they say is history :)

[@skrtskrt3706]

And with the help of fantastic players like cech, terry, lampard and drogba who would die for the club

[@KC-ji1fd]

Amazing what mourinho achieved at Porto.

[@edgarpanganiban9339]

Chelsea had a massive potential in terms of marketing and footballing wise, they also had experience recent successes in cup competitions before the take-over.

[@spark556]

Plastic oil club

[@christianopulinaldo8319]

@@spark556 bigger than man shitty

[@kathandgr8playz662]

you knew people were gonna search about chelsea today so sneaking this in lol

[@NeoMadihlaba]

Scary how Todd just came and did the exact same thing with the exact same club

[@Cabdirizaqcali-k1j]

But it needs balls bruh

[@larryachiya2475]

Now he's won another champions league with Chelsea 🎉

[@dandominare]

We need to take a moment to appreciate the headline "Ruple Brag Race".

[@MrSvetrkravata]

Petr cech was such a good deal. 7,5M euro for the best GK in the world later on. 👍

[@wadegregerson8743]

17 Major trophies in 18 years!!!

[@10mibrahim]

Raneri have set the ground work and allow Jose to take this team to the next step. Jose has taken us to the next step and made us compete against Europe elites. Give Raneri some credit 😤

[@rishabh3150]

Thank goodness during man city's takeover there was ffp

[@arunachalasivatejamudigond427]

Unfortunately it came after the take over.

[@dimasubrata]

FFP is implemented on 11/12 season and City already spent over €450m before it's get implemented.

[@AyoSosanya]

@Playlists soccer motorsports True but it allows smaller teams to catch up though over multiple seasons of staying in top flight since the biggest clubs can't go and spend 300 mil in a window.

[@lordgemini2376]

So you're okay with Chelsea's spending but are against City's? I see the hypocrisy. You'd rather the few elite teams that existed before FFP (which all had some form of cash injection at one point in their history) remain as the status quo big clubs and are afraid of any new clubs challenging for big spots. FFP creates a closed system and is inherently unfair to relatively smaller teams who have any ambition of wanting to buy the best players and challenge for trophies. But then again FFP is good at clubs who can't really afford it spending out of their arse and going bankrupt. It is what it is, just don't be hypocrites about it

[@TeaSipperTJ]

@Deimos virgin

[@robertmilchis5955]

Yay a football chat right on my birthday. surely gonna listen to it

[@Hafris33]

The reason why I like Chelsea FC. The owner was so much passion on football even he have little knowledge from it but like to see the development of his club growing. The one time Abramovich was happy with CFC when they win their first UCL against Bayern Munich from a penalty shoot out decision.

[@sam2131]

Damon Albarn in a tifo video! Never thought I'd see the day

[@marcelanoryadi9110]

😁 the thumbnail does look like him

[@sam2131]

@@marcelanoryadi9110 He's actually depicted as he appears in the Parklife video when Joe mentions Chelsea's cosmopolitan appeal and celebrity support :)

[@bfongchun]

please do an ep on jose first window at chelsea bro!!!

[@alvinaraka6152]

Splendid presentation.

[@bxndiswamagagula3744]

Can this be a series?😩😩😩 video was short

[@Az_Pacino]

as an arsenal fan i could only dream of having ownership like roman or sheikh mansour at city

[@StoutProper]

Funny that he was inspired to buy a club after watching a 4-3 then appointed mourinhio

[@joebarnes100]

No one noticed the style of football Jose used back in the day because the standards weren't as good and he bought great player's. Chelsea were the first team to have quality players on the bench. 2 quality players for each position. They were buying player's so other teams couldn't have them. Shaun Wright Phillips should have gone arsenal in my opinion.

[@StoutProper]

@@joebarnes100 yeah because of oil and gas money but funnily enough i never see oil or gas in the comments about Chelsea funny that

[@StoutProper]

@@joebarnes100 standards of football weren't as high at Chelsea you mean? Still aren't

[@phantomsixthman8807]

@@StoutProper Is abramovich in the oil business? didnt know that. I thought hes a russian mafia leader?

[@StoutProper]

@@phantomsixthman8807 both mate but yeah he made a packet from it

[@joshuaowolabi6668]

I love the fact that Abramovic understands you have to spend big to compete with the other best teams and have success

[@effarrjay]

Damien Duff for £22m from Blackburn Rovers? Wow, times were different in 2004.

[@adwitiyodas5493]

Love thus channel

[@michaelpyatt831]

And the top scorer in the league for them was jimmy Floyd hasslebaink

[@fernandosalazar2298]

Dang! If Ken’s computer had said no, Abramovich would have next approached and bought Fulham!

[@Q9Teen]

Great video as always! Can you make a video about West Ham tactics? Currently they're the best London team sitting in 4th after match day 25!

[@m.aununu.musaffa7466]

Check 'football make simple'

[@stephenkoshy3127]

Stereo have sponsored the whole of the UK.

[@anggaihza3074]

"Mr. Abramovich shut up and pay"

[@NanduriBharrath_nb]

Still, Jose Mourinho remains as his best transfer ever.

[@n1kurd]

What a guy

[@ritiksinghrajput578]

He was the one started this oil culture

[@hurleycapetown8420]

The owner who has spoken the least but changed the EPL the most.

[@TeaSipperTJ]

He changed football not just the epl

[@hurleycapetown8420]

@@TeaSipperTJ true.

[@r4h4al]

Very interesting video.

[@anthonybigfoot9789]

stereo going crazy with these ads

[@theherefordwolf7726]

Only problem with this video is it’s too short! Outstanding video incredible insight

[@mikhailarcade3254]

Hello Tifo Football, I hope you make a story about The Philippine Football from the early greatness during 1910's with Fc Barcelona Legend Paulino Alcantara, the fall amd became the Whipping boys of the Continent from 1960's to 2000's until the top Contenders of Asia, Please Please! Thank you in advance!!

[@alifzahir3933]

If you reading this, i would like to thank you Mr Abramovich. I love you soo much. All Chelsea fan love you so much too.

[@nu-dissolve]

Imagine if he bought Spurs 😮😂😂

[@MaharaMsefula]

Wat wud we do without tifo

[@offtherecord681]

Lehmann wasn't a free he cost Arsenal 1.5 million.

[@serkankaratepe9305]

The beginning of the billionaire takeover era. After that Man City and PSG followed the same footsteps with even more aggressive transfers. While clubs like Man United and Liverpool relying on their prime success revenues those teams rely on their billionaire owners.

[@AM2K2]

Liverpool yes - Man Utd are saddled with debt.

[@serkankaratepe9305]

@Play to win still Man United didn't rely on oil/gas money. They rely on their success in 90's. Just like Bayern in today's football or Barcelona in late 2000's early 2010's.

[@rohithraman6488]

Chelsea are now relying on their success revenues

[@rohithraman6488]

@@serkankaratepe9305 You do realise there was once a time when Man Utd relied on their owner's money in the 1930s? Liverpool did at some point as well, it's just that they rely on their success revenues now, and Chelsea have actually been doing this for a while, they are self sufficient

[@cookie-qw7pp]

Fantastic work once again tifo! Could you do a piece on Ipswich's upcoming rumoured £30 million US takeover? As I've just seen the athletic have just done a piece on it in their news article.

[@steve.T.]

How much do you intend on spending Mr Abramovich? Abramovich: Yes!

[@rickenfatania]

I always thought Glen Johnson was their first signing under Abramovic? Did I miss it or was there no mention of the special one?

[@Yajna007]

This content first of all appeared on _The Athletic_ magazine.

[@charlieclemmow8027]

Manchester City next? That was a fantastic video

[@caec339]

So you’re telling me it’s Chelsea’s fault? I can accept that

[@TeaSipperTJ]

Fault for ?

[@shahidwillie2289]

Nice

[@rashidkhalid3970]

Drogba was only like 25 million and Peter cech was only 7 million and they bought a loads of quality players with that sort of price tag

[@joebarnes100]

Lol only 25 million. You might want to have a look at football inflation.

[@cummerchant542]

25 was a lot back then

[@rohithraman6488]

@@cummerchant542 However we also did get bargains like 6m for Glen Johnson, 6m for Joe Cole, 7m for Wayne Bridge, 7m for Cech

[@cummerchant542]

@@rohithraman6488 still a lot for back then man

[@rohithraman6488]

@@cummerchant542 7m was actually not that much back then, I mean United got Veron for 37m two years earlier

[@TheRobbo007]

I remember that summer very well. It was as if a spoilt rich kid had access to his/her trust fund and went on a spending spree! 😁

[@spark556]

Plastics

[@Yamcha291]

@@spark556 why you replying to every comment about them? Did Chelsea get under your skin?

[@fabiyaanmir546]

@@Yamcha291 he's right. Chelsea are a small club filled with sugar daddy money

[@paulsharma4807]

@@fabiyaanmir546 and your united is a club filled with average players.

[@fabiyaanmir546]

@@paulsharma4807 not even a united fan plastic

[@Inter_nick]

Crespo was a great footballer

[@liam89th]

Didn't they also sign goalkeepers Neil Sullivan and Marco Ambrosio?

[@soulsmischief2626]

Chelsea 2003, lazio 1998 and real madrid 2009 are the craziest transfer windows

[@gkm2928]

By spunking it up a wall mostly. Mutu, Crespo Veron, Johnston, Smertin etc etc

[@rohithraman6488]

Tbh we only spent 6m on Johnson

[@duckingforcover09]

Any chance you could do the demise of Birmingham City after the League Cup win in 2011?

[@christianopulinaldo8319]

Abramovich >>> Shiek Mansour

[@paulsharma4807]

@Deimos without a ucl . City can’t even make it to the semis

[@arandomguy3288]

@@paulsharma4807 3 pl in 4 years

[@paulsharma4807]

@@arandomguy3288 yes I can say the same for Chelsea with their domestic dominance but they atleast have a ucl city have none

[@reynaldodelrio1548]

How did they line up?. That would be an interesting video.

[@rohithraman6488]

Cudicini Melchiot/Johnson Desailly Terry Gallas Gronkjaer Makelele Lampard Joe Cole Gudjohnsen Hasselbaink

[@jaeedrahman1058]

Make a premier league cult hero list. You know players who perhaps werent successful for a long period of time but had immense impact on the team momentarily or smth. Example: Dmitry Payet

[@cummerchant542]

Cult hero has to be loved by the fans,payet wasnt

[@stupendous7848]

Like a boss. Class dismissed.

[@cnsandiford]

*Laughs in 2022 transfer spending*

[@katlehorakgosi1957]

You love to see it

[@prometheustv6558]

Jose could have bought any player in the world at that time but opted to buy Drogba.

[@thebeardfather1st]

Drogba wad a beast even in France . He destroyed everyone the year before but especially Liverpool

[@Yuzume]

Vtuber Joe hits differently

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

Their fans will tell you they won trophies 🏆 😂 They bought them...

[@devshekhawat7]

Pl top clubs have some stains in their legacy whether it's oil money or russian billionaire..same for french league teams.. spain clubs has franco.. and italy has Calciopoli scandal... but what about German? Can you please make a video on Bayern(a negative one) as they are the top club. Would be a good one if their is some good story.. Ik it's a weird request but a good one :p

[@carlos-bm6658]

Like raiding of the other bundesliga clubs

[@tsoiboy4073]

Like cheating in Championship Manager back in the day, only with actual, um, ‘acquired’ money.

[@Mg-it9hv]

Cry

[@christophermotte7532]

Somebody had fun. Accounting: How much do you want to spend Abramovich, 10,20, 30 million? Abramovich: Yes.

[@alikaro9281]

I think you forgot to add “Blood Money and shady businesses ” to the title

[@keepscrolling6042]

I hate that billionaires have to go to the premier league, with citeh and newcastle the latest, i wish they could buy bundesliga or la liga teams to compete with barcelona and bayern

[@bantumsutfu5310]

I will love Abramovich until the day I leave Earth💙

[@TurnitMo]

Posting a Chelsea video after a win on athletico? I see you ;)

[@nishantshekhar2674]

No team in the world by the name Atheltico

[@prometheustv6558]

Funny how they lost using tactics that Chelsea pioneered.

[@ousmansano21]

@@prometheustv6558 they have been using those tactics for about a decade too

[@prometheustv6436]

@@ousmansano21 I don’t see why he parked the bus against Chelsea, they aren’t very threatening on the attack.

[@Blip-qz9ch]

@@prometheustv6436 it wasn't a park the bus tactic it was a sense of security that they looked to break open on the Counter, Chelsea will probably bottle it in the second leg considering Jorginho and Mount, arguable two of their most important players last night, are out

[@rickflose]

Wait he passed on Spurs and Arsenal was his first choice? Damn what could of been

[@AAlfredjoseph]

Soo many titles lost

[@bored_grape]

Stereo is the new Raid Shadow Legends, just less annoying.

[@tdyerwestfield]

The summer that killed football.

[@jsav5187]

not true, before then only man utd and arsenal had a chance of winning the game, it forced man utd to up their game, and not to mention giving money like 22million to teams like blackburn which was a hell of a lot in 2003

[@rohithraman6488]

Not true.

[@ianiskandar4165]

Abramovich is a smart man.. hope I can meet him someday.. the structured of all his company is top notch.. with Marina granivskaia .. who is one of the best negotiators in football

[@liamdevine8063]

One of my favourite ever Summer transfer sprees. So many international standard players who were brand new to the league in one spin was fascinating and probably in retrospect CL qualification was a huge achievement from Ranieri - one which still saw him sacked.

[@EzraDair]

Arsenal are biting their hearts out for the “ no sale “ shit back in the day

[@hugoumero9723]

I think abramovich could have buy United And make this team become good money instead Of chelsea

[@nUEbel423]

Why is there no episode about Nasser El Khelaifi or Andrea Agnelli in your "who ownes [Club]"-series? Do they allready own parts of your publishing-company or something like that? Missing good content about this topics. /:

[@BurnNotice3210]

So the first 10 or so signings never ended up as Chelsea legends?

[@ginojansen2756]

Love ur vids and pro analyses but this intro was really annoying. Cheers.