Sven Goran Eriksson has revealed how convinced Roman Abrahamovic to buy Chelsea instead of North London club Tottenham Hotspur in 2003. The former England manager stated that he told Abrahamovic that for him to win trophies at Tottenham Hotspur he will have to change a whole lot of things within the club, including the structure.
The first meeting between the two was not the best of first-time introductions, as the Swede took Abrahamovic to be a driver. He recalled that there were three men standing in front of him at a casino in London. One of them was properly dressed and the remaining two were just quite normal, he took the last man for the Chauffeur, but he was actually Roman. They approached the former Lazio manager that they wanted to buy a club in Moscow. He went with the delegates to Russia and the Swede advised Roman to buy Dynamo.
Eriksson revealed not long after he received another call from his right-hand man, he said he was told Roman has changed his mind and he wanted to buy a club in London, Spurs or Chelsea. He asked why he wanted a club in London, is it to win trophies or what. The right-hand man stated that Roman wants to win, and Eriksson advised him to buy Chelsea ahead of the north London club, that he would have to change the whole team if he wants to win with Tottenham. Chelsea have won 16 major trophies since Abrahamovic took over at Chelsea compared to only one that arrived in North London within the same period.
Eriksson is a veteran manager who has managed the national teams of England, Mexico and Ivory Coast. He also had a stint at Philippines soccer as he managed the national team from 2018 to 2019.