It was a week that Chelsea fans will never forget — the week Roman Abramovich announced his intention to sell.
Amid the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich is looking to move on from Chelsea after almost two decades of investment, trophies and plenty of drama.
The news shook the club to its core.
Dominic Fifield, Simon Johnson, Liam Twomey and our team of writers have spent the week talking to people behind the scenes at the club in an attempt to tell you what the mood is and what is going on.
Here is what we are hearing…
It shouldn’t be forgotten that owner Roman Abramovich’s first statement regarding the future of Chelsea came the night before the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
The Chelsea players had already travelled to the team hotel near Wembley, where the match was held, when the club announced on their website that the owner was attempting to hand control over to six trustees.
All had seemed normal at the training ground earlier in the day. Left-back Ben Chilwell was doing some individual training work as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury, while technical and performance adviser Petr Cech watched the Under-18s beat Aston Villa 3-1.
The news came as a surprise to everyone but the mood among the players was calm following a short team meeting that was held after dinner. It helped that there was a major final to focus on and, at that juncture, it appeared little was going to change. After all, Abramovich had rarely been seen for three years and director Marina Granovskaia and chairman Bruce Buck were running the club on a day-to-day basis.
This sentiment continued into Sunday. It is understood there was little discussion about it among those from Chelsea who attended the game.
