Ranieri recalls Abramovich’s arrival at Chelsea: ‘He looked like a kid in the schoolyard’ – Chelsea

Claudio Ranieri, former Chelsea manager, recalled in an interview with ‘Il Messaggero’ the arrival of Roman Abramovich in the blues in 2003. “He was young and enthusiastic. He looked like a child in the playground, he was very present.” sometimes, to put it mildly, I would come back from games with him in his private plane. I wanted to be informed and to understand everything,” recalls the Italian coach. “He bought Chelsea because we had qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the championship, after beating Liverpool. If we hadn’t achieved this goal, the history of the club could have been different,” Ranieri continued.

However, the coach does not fear for the future of the Blues. “I don’t think there are serious risks, they are European and World champions, they will certainly find a buyer capable of maintaining their current status. However, there is the other side, that of the world which revolves around football, from clubs to the sport’s involvement in the Ukrainian war. It would be nice if sport was a happy island, but it can’t be like that…”