Last days of Roman: the week that changed everything at Chelsea

Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge in 2014. His plans to sell Chelsea may be scuppered if sanctions are imposed. Photograph: Andrew Fosker/Shutterstock

There was no sense that everything was about to unravel so dramatically when the statement from Roman Abramovich dropped at 6.45pm last Saturday, less than 24 hours before Chelsea were due to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

“Nothing changes,” one source said as the night wore on and everyone tried to make sense of Abramovich’s plans to transfer the care and stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation. “It’s the same Chelsea.”