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Chelsea changed the landscape of the Premier League and European football as a whole exactly 20 years ago, when Roman Abramovich completed his takeover of the club on 1 July and immediately started spending money on a scale never before seen in the league. While the Russian billionaire eventually was forced to offload the club last year, Todd Boehly and his Clearlake group purchasing the Blues, Abramovich’s spell at the helm was trophy-laden and filled with unrivalled investment in transfers. In that first summer back in 2003, the Stamford Bridge side immediately signed a massive haul of players: Hernan Crespo, Damien Duff, Juan Sebastian Veron, Claude Makelele, Adrian Mutu, Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, Geremi, Glen Johnson and Aleksey Smertin, along with a clutch of reserve players to boost squad numbers. But the haul could have been even higher, both by volume and very much by reputation, it has been revealed, by those who were at the club at the time - including moves explored for two of Italy’s greatest players at the time. Then-manager Claudio Ranieri has detailed how early meetings after Abramovich bought the club could have seen him lose his own post, had Sven-Goran Eriksson been persuaded to leave the England job - as well as the players who might have been lured to the Premier League had a takeover been concluded earlier. “When I came back for preseason, [chief executive] Trevor Birch told me the club had been sold. I asked who the new owner [weas], he said a Russian person, very rich, he wants to build a big team...that was it,” Ranieri told The Blueprint podcast, in a forthcoming episode heard exclusively by the Independent. “I didn’t know what could happen but of course I thought ‘maybe he wants to change the manager’. Roman wanted to sign Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was the England national team manager. But in the end he told me ‘OK, you worked well last season, try to do your best in this season.’ “He told me, ‘tell me what you want’ [for transfers], but it was difficult to sign [players like Francesco] Totti, [or Alessandro] Nesta when big teams are in preseason. Roman wanted to buy big champions but to bring them you had to work a year, six months. Not when other teams are ready to start the season! “The first meeting he was so happy - he told me he wanted to buy great players and make Chelsea the greatest team in the world. But it was impossible to sign those kind of players he was asking me if I wanted. It was the only time in my life [I was asked about them]!” Meanwhile, the players already at the club were also dealing with the fallout in different ways. Winger Jesper Gronkjaer, who had joined in 2000/01, noted that the squad at the time knew about the club’s financial difficulties and the likelihood of a change in ownership - especially since there were media reports about not getting paid on time. And when the signings started to happen, a natural response for many meant cause over their own futures. “I think we were all aware that the club had financial issues. In springtime there were rumours about not getting salaries, about Ken Bates wanting to sell the club. We did not buy any players the summer before because of the financial situation,” Gronkjaer said. “Nobody could imagine Roman coming in and we have never seen a guy coming in like that, using that much money in such a short time, changing the training facilities. We have never really seen that around in Europe before, so I think we were all a bit sceptical afterwards. All the players were thinking, ‘Are we gonna stay here? How many players is he gonna buy?’ It was quite chaotic. “From day one if you opened all the papers there were rumours about five players for each position. And not just five players, it was five top players from Real Madrid, from Bayern Munich, from Manchester United. “It was the top scorers in Serie A, you know, it was from the top shelf. Then you have got thoughts about, ‘Is there going to be space for me here? Are they trying to get rid of me?’” Gronkjaer’s own departure was sealed 12 months later with a transfer to Birmingham, as the Blues continued to splash the cash and bring in the likes of Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba. The Abramovich era was well and truly under way and Chelsea certainly became a dominant force under his ownership, which very much enforced a new era in the English game. But the revelations of who could have arrived in the earliest days maybe highlight how much faster other clubs would have had to move to keep up, and how determined Abramovich was to see his plans come to fruition quickly. ::‘The Blueprint: How Chelsea FC Changed Football’ podcast is streaming now - listen to every episiode here Read More Harry Kane builds new family home near Chelsea training ground Havertz transfer leaves Chelsea fans conflicted: ‘You won’t be missed’ Arsenal transfer news: Record Rice bid, Timber and Xhaka latest Havertz completes transfer to Arsenal as Chelsea continue clearout Mateo Kovacic completes move from Chelsea to Manchester City Why Jackson possesses tools to make Chelsea a free-scoring Pochettino team

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Celtic have announced the signing of Australia international Marco Tilio from Melbourne City. The 21-year-old winger has agreed a five-year deal at Celtic Park and becomes the second signing of Brendan Rodgers’ second spell at the club. Tilio, who follows a host of Australians to pull on the green and white hoops, told Celtic TV: “I’m ecstatic that I’m coming over to Europe, coming to such a big club and team, and I’m super-excited. “I hope to bring all my qualities, take on players in and around the box, help the team contribute to goals with assists and hopefully put a few in the back of the net as well. “It’s an amazing opportunity for myself and having seen Aussies go over there and do well at such a prestigious club, it’s a massive opportunity for myself that I couldn’t deny. “And being around those guys, Aaron Mooy and Tommy Rogic, in the national team camp over recent years, obviously helped make my decision easier.” Tilio joined Melbourne three years ago from Sydney FC but always had his sights on a move to Europe. He added: “It’s always been a plan ever since I moved over to Melbourne three years ago. “It was my plan to go over and do well, and hopefully proceed to go on to different and bigger and better things, and now I think is the time for me to come over to Europe and really challenge myself. ‘And I’m really excited with the opportunity I have to come to this club and hopefully I put my best foot forward and play some good football.’ “I think it’s a massive opportunity to be a part of a team that plays in the Champions League, and have a winning mentality in bringing trophies. I think that’s important. “And as a player that’s what you want to be a part of and what you want to do is win trophies, win games. For me it’s always been about that here in Australia and I want to come over there and do the same thing.” Tilio, who will make the journey from Down Under to Scotland in the next week, joins Odin Thiago Holm as the second summer arrival at the club. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live UEFA’s Man City probe ruled £30m from owners disguised as sponsor money – report Nathan Lyon’s Ashes could be over after ‘significant’ calf strain is confirmed Nathan Lyon arrives on crutches as calf injury puts Ashes role in doubt

UEFA’s investigation into Manchester City concluded that two £15million payments from a broker was funding from the club’s owners disguised as sponsorship revenue. The report by the adjudicatory committee of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) is effectively the written reasons behind the decision announced in February 2020 to suspend City from European competition for two years. The report was never published because the club appealed against the decision and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later overturned the CFCB verdict, but it has been obtained by the makers of a YouTube film released on Thursday, and has also been seen by The Times. UEFA did not comment on the report when contacted by the PA news agency on Friday. The report said City’s lawyers had told a UEFA disciplinary hearing that two £15m sponsorship payments from telecommunications firm Etisalat in 2012 and 2013 were made by a man called Jaber Mohammed, who was described as a broker, and that Etisalat repaid the money to City’s owners in 2015. The Times reports that the adjudicatory committee of the CFCB concluded: “Arrangements were made under which payments were made or caused to be made by ADUG (Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity fund controlled by City owner Sheikh Mansour) but attributed to the sponsorship obligations of Etisalat so as to disguise the true purpose of equity funding, and those arrangements were carried into effect by the payments made by Jaber Mohamed totalling £30million. “The management of the club was well aware that the payments totalling £30million made by Jaber Mohamed were made as equity funding, not as payments for the sponsor on account of genuine sponsorship liabilities.” CAS overturned the two-year suspension in July 2020, and in its judgement it said UEFA should not have dealt with the charges related to Etisalat because they had passed the five-year time limit. It is not known whether the Etisalat payments form part of the Premier League’s ongoing case against City, where they face 115 charges over alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules and a failure to co-operate with the investigation, but, if they do, they would not be time-barred. In the same judgement, the CAS panel also stated it was “not comfortably satisfied” that City had disguised equity funding from Sheikh Mansour or ADUG as sponsorship contributions from the Etihad airline. It said in relation to the Etihad sponsorship: “There is not sufficient evidence on file to establish that arrangements were actually made between MCFC and HHSM (Sheikh Mansour) and/or ADUG, or between HHSM and/or ADUG and Etihad, or that HHSM and/or ADUG funded part of Etihad’s sponsorship obligations directly. “In the absence of a link being proven…the majority of the panel finds that UEFA’s theory on disguised equity funding remains unsubstantiated.” City have not commented on the latest report, but it is understood they believe questions should be asked about the origins of the funding for the new YouTube film, and the motivations of those who provided that funding. Little is known about the company behind it, Sunrise Media, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands on June 9. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Nathan Lyon’s Ashes could be over after ‘significant’ calf strain is confirmed Nathan Lyon arrives on crutches as calf injury puts Ashes role in doubt England name uncapped Saracens hooker Theo Dan in World Cup training squad

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