Roman Abramovich is currently in negotiations to obtain a 55% controlling share in Spanish Segunda Division team Real Mallorca. This is according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
After a successful fight with relegation during the past season, the club will play in the second division in Spain again in 2015. Real Mallorca has bounced between the first and second divisions for virtually all of its existence.
After 2010’s bankruptcy proceedings the Balearic team has had a tough time both on and off the field, but they managed to retain a spot in La Liga until they were finally relegated to the second division at the end of the 2012/13 season.
This year they completed the season just outside the drop zone, barely managing to avoid a free fall into Spain’s lower football levels.
If the reports can be trusted, Abramovich’s cash injection might help to solve the team’s financial woes and drive them back into the first league, where his team connections might also prove to be beneficial to Chelsea FC. The club might create a relationship between Mallorca and London that is not much different from that existing between Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem or Cobham and Chelsea.
Should that happen, Chelsea would have a great system for developing young players who can either not secure a UK work visa or who are simply not yet ready for English football for a variety of reasons.