Roman Abramovich Wants To Buy Eastern Europe

By: chris | November 30th, 2007

This summers transfer market was relatively uneventful by Chelsea standards. Most of their buys were, now sit down for this, frugal and (partially) intelligent - even though they may have pursued some piggy bank breakers. Their “big buy”, Florent “The King of Diving” Malouda, was a far cry from the days when Roman Abramovich would make it rain all over Europe with buys like Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack. Sure, Ballack was on a free, but his salary could feed a small country for a decade (I’m looking at you, Papua New Guinea). Purposeful and unsexy buys came in like Claudio Pizarro, Julien Belletti, Steve Sidwell, and Tal Ben-Haim (whose unibrow makes him the unsexiest of all). Well you know what, those days are over. Big Daddy Abramovich is back and he’s ready to make it pour all over again, and he’s targeting Eastern Europe.

First off is Croatian phenomenon Luka Modric, who currently plays for Dinamo Zagreb in the homeland. A playmaker who can do all sorts of wondrous things, supposedly the next true No. 10, it appears he’s high up on the list:

A member of Dinamo’s management committee, Tomislav Marcinko reiterated the Chelsea owner’s wish to sign the player, and pay a high price for him, saying: ‘Abramovich is ready to pay for every one of Modric’s kilos.’

And how much would those kilos cost? Only upwards of £30m. Roman has stiff competition from foreign-pilferer Arsene Wenger, but when Roman wants his man, he usually gets him. (And Luka celebrates goals by doing back flips, that’s gotta be worth at least £7m right there.)

Another name coming off the Eastern European (and British) presses is Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, a hugely talented Russian winger for Lokomotiv Moscow. Arsenal and Chelsea appear to be fighting over him, as well, and at a bargain price when compared to Modric: only up to £20m.

And then there’s Bilyaletdinov’s teammate at Lokomotiv, Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic, who has joined Roman’s list of Eastern European crushes. This one’s a drop in the pond at a reported £10m. (Depending on which sources you have, some peg it as £20m for both Lokomotiv teammates, but I have a hard time believing one guy rated at £15-20m and another at £10 will magically morph into a two-fer discount.)

Oh yeah, then there’s that Ronaldinho guy, who might command a pound or two (but last time I checked, Brazil isn’t in Eastern Europe, could be wrong though). And surely there will be more.

On the other end is the story of Andriy Shevchenko, their 0 benchwarmer. Give the man hell for failing to live up to the reputation he created at Dynamo Kyiv and Milan, but credit where credit is due: plenty of superstars would be raising hell, telling employers to either “play me or trade me”.

“We had good results last week, so it’s difficult to complain [about my lack of games],” Shevchenko told Sportske novosti.

“I’m not happy, but what can I do, I keep working and stay quiet.”

It’s gotta happen sooner, rather than later, right? The guy just can’t rot there forever.

Whatever the case, Big Bucks Roman is back in the house and none too soon. I love to see Roman spending money like MC Hammer in the mid-90’s. Not because I’m a Chelsea fan, but because it makes them that much easier to root against.