The words Chelsea and adversity go together about as well as oil and water. But if you believe the current news coming out about the financial issues embroiling owner Roman Abramovich, there’s a good chance those words could be going together soon enough.

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It was reported that Abramovich had lost as much as £12 billion following the decline in value of steel-making company Evraz and mining company Highland Gold.

However, this estimate was dismissed as misleading and grossly exaggerated by associates of the Russian billionaire. Abramovich’s considerable cash and property assets are thought to have been unaffected, while any stock market impact would amount to ‘paper losses’. It is also understood that Abramovich has no intention of selling any of his stock.

“The figure is just as arbitrary as those you see in Forbes every year and we don’t put any stock by them,” Abramovich’s spokesman, John Mann, said. However, Chelsea are looking to become less financially reliant on Abramovich and hope to break even by 2010. (Telegraph)

Who’s to say what’s real and what’s fake. What we do know to be a fact is that this credit crisis appears to be hurting all parties. Could this mean that Chelsea might be spending less in the transfer market? Whilst it’s still too early to predict right now, it should be interesting to see how much of a player Chelsea are in the January window.

Are Chelsea supporters concerned about this financial rumour? Or do you consider it business as usual?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!