Chelsea

Credit Crunch Hits Chelsea

Chelsea’s Frank Arnesen has revealed that even billionaire Blues owner Roman Abramovich isn’t immune to the credit crunch.

Nov 8, 2008 12:46:25 PM

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Roman Abramovich (AFP)

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Reports have already claimed that the Stamford Bridge side have been forced to release several scouts as a cost-cutting measure and Arnesen has now admitted that the Chelsea owner has been forced to ‘hit the financial brakes.’

According to Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, the Chelsea chief scout has admitted that the cost-cutting runs deep and not just with regards to scouts.

“The structure is now in place and the financial crunch has meant that Roman has hit the financial brakes and asked us to cut deep,” he revealed before adding, “We have cut down significantly on scouts and other activities.”

Yet there is some good news for Chelsea fans with Arnesen also revealing that the club are almost able to operate without the financial help of their Russian billionaire owner. He confirmed: “But we are at the level of Real Madrid and Manchester United – and we are now getting close to the time when the club can function without Roman’s money.”

The former Tottenham man also says that his role has changed since he first arrived at Stamford Bridge.

“I have been responsible for scouting first-team players since 2006,” he explained, “In my first year, my job was to scout players under the age of 19, but it seemed foolish that our network was only looking at players under 19.”

So what does he do? Arnesen explains that it's his job to recruit players, saying: “I was handed a mandate to recommend players for Mourinho, Avram Grant and now Scolari,” he added before concluding, “If Scolari says he lacks a centre forward, it’s my job to make bids on players that have the necessary quality and personality to succeed at Chelsea.”

Gill Clark