Buck: Chelsea will be European champions within 3 years

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck believes his club will be champions of Europe in just a few years’ time with Andre Villas-Boas at the helm.

Speaking at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge, Buck praised owner Roman Abramovich’s leadership of the club since he took over in 2003.

And Buck is of the firm opinion that Chelsea will have many more trophies in the cabinet in the next few years, including the one that the Russian billionaire covets the most.

“When Mr Abramovich first bought the club you could say we were not Manchester United, we were not Liverpool,” Buck said.

“You have to be honest, a very significant part of developing a very good brand is success. Over the last six or seven years we’ve had a lot of success and no matter how hard you try it is very difficult to develop a brand unless you have some success or some other hook.”

“I think most fans really adore Roman Abramovich intently because he is a real football fan, he loves football, he loves Chelsea Football Club and the fans recognise that.”

“We all think that’s something the fans of Chelsea Football Club deserved and they respect Mr Abramovich for having done that for them.”

When asked where the club might be in three years, Buck had an optimistic forecast for club and manager.

“Three years from now I think we’ll have a 36-year-old manager who has been with us for four years,” he said.

“We’ll have won a couple of trophies including one with the word ‘European’ in its title, and we will have a contented fan base and a contented owner.”