Chapter Two

Kenilworth Road

Minutes after Abramovich's shock announcement that Chelsea was for sale, Petr Cech walked into the boardroom at Luton Town's ageing Kenilworth Road stadium. Oblivious to the throwback surroundings and cramped facilities, Chelsea's technical director was struck instead by the reception from his executive counterparts in the Luton hierarchy. Cech led the Chelsea delegation into Luton's directors' facilities on the evening of Wednesday 2 March 2022, in the final build-up to the Blues' fifth-round FA Cup encounter, against a Championship club battling to match their lengthy past with a buoyant future.

As Cech entered the room, all eyes locked immediately onto his giant frame, all gazes fixed intently on the Stamford Bridge board member and his colleagues. The former Chelsea and Czech Republic goalkeeper had grown accustomed to being stared at, his 6ft 5in frame and footballing renown making him instantly recognisable to fans and the wider public alike. This was a man who had won the Champions League and four Premier League titles in a glittering eleven-year playing stint at Chelsea that also included winning the Europa League and three League Cups. He was a mainstay of the Chelsea side that set a Premier League record low of fifteen goals conceded in the 2004-05 campaign. He was entirely used to receiving attention, and just as adept at dealing with it. But in the immediate aftermath of Abramovich's revelation that he would sell the Blues, Chelsea were suddenly the world's biggest sporting story, bar absolutely none.

So for anyone in that room of a Luton persuasion, it was impossible not to let their gaze linger a beat too long as a minimum - and in some cases to downright gawk. At least, that is how that boardroom entrance felt to Cech and company, who were stepping into the unknown in so many more ways than simply embarking on Chelsea's first competitive trip to Luton since 1991. The game's global foundations were still shaking as Cech and the rest of the Chelsea cohort met their Luton counterparts, whereupon they had no choice but to field a slew of questions about the future.

'So what happens now? What is the process? How long will a sale take? What's next for you all personally?' All these enquiries and more had to be batted away, deftly and gently, for at that point, there were precious few answers.

Abramovich's statement that Chelsea was for sale had been posted to the club's website and social media channels at the very point that the Blues' players were warming up for their last-sixteen FA Cup clash at Luton. Supporters filing into the ground stopped in their tracks as notifications landed on their phones. The assembled media, packing out a set of Luton facilities not so often accustomed to such numbers, were sent into a frenzy of filing words, recording new audio reports, and ripping up any existing plans on how to cover the night's events.

Abramovich, for his part, had issued an unprecedented and deeply personal statement that laid bare his plans for Chelsea and his own hopes, even signing off his message solely with his given name.

I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC. As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the club's best interest at heart. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club's sponsors and partners.

The sale of the club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.

Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the club in this manner. However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the club. I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person. It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart. Thank you, Roman.

Cech and Chelsea's other directors at Kenilworth Road could tell their Luton peers and anyone else they would meet that night that Abramovich meant every word of a statement that many considered bittersweet. They could talk of a determination that the sale should not be rushed, that all proceeds would be aimed to benefit all victims of Russia's war in Ukraine. They could talk of Abramovich's groundbreaking ownership, how he had transformed Chelsea, and the Premier League, in his nineteen years at the Stamford Bridge helm. They could not, however, talk with any certainty about how any further events would unfold.

The UK government and the European Union were both busily examining how to sanction Abramovich, aiming to prove his ability to influence President Putin in order to impose asset freezes and travel bans that could aid Ukraine's war effort.

The sale of any major business, but especially a Premier League club, would only usually be announced on, or at least close to, completion. Geopolitics had conspired to remove any chance of following accepted protocol, and certainly any confidentiality: the sale was public knowledge before any process had even begun. This total inversion left staff at every level of Chelsea's organisation in a spin.

If Cech and his fellow directors were swimming in uncertain seas then, the players, coaches and staff could have been forgiven for struggling to tread water amid an announcement that created a storm the like of which none of them had ever seen. The players had been particularly stunned by the news, and left in a state of confusion. Athletes crave the certainty of structure, the security of routine, and elite performance finds its bedrock in both.

The large contingent of homegrown Chelsea players, the highly prized and accomplished academy graduates, were among the most distressed. Senior stars and England internationals like Mason Mount had been connected to Chelsea for almost their whole lives. Talented forward Mount, born in 1999, had joined Chelsea aged seven and not only had he never looked back - he had never even known a Chelsea that had not been owned by Abramovich. Even Cech, who had already made his name with Sparta Prague and Rennes before joining Chelsea in 2004, had never had any first-hand experience of a Stamford Bridge set-up not operated by Abramovich.

Now, in the bowels of Luton's cramped stadium, Cech seized a vital opportunity to address the team's questions as best he could, delivering one straightforward message: for tonight, keep it simple.

One thing was certain: the Luton match would go ahead. Win this game, and everything - the uncertainty, the drama, the shock, the sadness - would feel instantly better. The reigning champions of Europe would be expected to roll over second-tier Luton without issue, and no quarter would be given if they failed. Cech told the Chelsea squad to control what they could and put the rest aside, certainly for the duration of the evening. Coaches, players and support staff were asked to do what they loved doing, what they did best, and to do that to the best of their ability.

There were no tears in the dressing room that night, perhaps mainly because of the collective shock. There was an immediate frustration and anger, however, and an overt feeling of discontent that both Cech and Chelsea's coaches, led by the shrewd and savvy Tuchel, quickly looked to shape into a driving force.

As the minutes until kick-off ticked by, preparations became ever more match-focused, but many of those in the Kenilworth Road dressing room and on the pitch for the pre-match warm-ups recall a heady mix of autopilot preparation and latent, building indignation. The final messages before Chelsea took to the field to contest a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals echoed Cech's initial advice: win the match, and everything will feel that little bit better.

Abramovich's move to sell Chelsea had been every inch the lightning bolt that had struck the Blues players mere hours later in Luton, his decisiveness catching everyone involved unawares. The billionaire was already well ensconced in early attempts at back-channelling, aimed to try to create a platform for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. On the ground and on the move in Istanbul, he had spent the bulk of 2 March shuttling between luxury hotels in the swish Besiktas district, as well as offices of the Turkish government, all of which were housed in varying converted Ottoman palaces.

He had stepped away from those...