Roman Abramovich demanded two World Cup-winning legends as first Chelsea signings after buyout, reveals Ranieri
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH demanded two World Cup winners as his first signings after buying Chelsea.
The Russian oligarch purchased the club in 2003 under the advice of Sven-Goran Eriksson, who insisted he would have a better chance of success than with Tottenham.
Chelsea was in a mess at the time with no full-time doctor and the first team were kicked off the university pitches they trained on by students.
But Abramovich wasted no time in trying to sign the best players to help transform the Blues into a serial trophy-winning machine.
However, then-manager Claudio Ranieri had to stand up to the billionaire and lower his expectations.
Ranieri said: “I was travelling from Rome to London for pre-season.
“The Chelsea sporting director called me the new Russian owners have arrived and warned us two would be the first to go out.
“Abramovich told me, ‘Claudio I want to get this team to the top of the world.’
“I believed him.
“Abramovich wanted to buy Francesco Totti or Alessandro Nesta.
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“But I told him it’s not possible because it’s August and the season has started everywhere, no team can sell these kinds of players.
“‘It’s difficult. We have to choose the right players who can improve our team and other teams want to sell because Nesta and Totti are not possible.’
“I see Abramovich like a boy in a toy market, he wanted to buy the best.”
Roma legend Totti and AC Milan hero Nesta, who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, were simply unfeasible options.
But the new owner did spend big in that first summer transfer window – approximately £110million.
That included some big names from abroad – £16m on Claude Makelele, £16.8m on Hernan Crespo and £15.8m on Adrian Mutu.
But there were plenty of ‘safer’ signings, too, as Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge, Damien Duff and Joe Cole joined the club.
Ranieri led Chelsea to second in the Premier League in that 2003-04 season, second to unbeaten Arsenal, and reached the Champions League semi-finals.
But the Italian was sacked at the end of the campaign – with the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho arriving straight off the back of leading Porto to glory in Europe.
The Portuguese convinced Abramovich to stump up more cash for Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Paulo Ferreira, Mateja Kezman, Tiago and Ricardo Carvalho in 2004 – and reaped the rewards by winning back-to-back league titles.
Ranieri would eventually win the Premier League, steering 5,000-1 Leicester to their miraculous success in 2016.