10 most influential personalities of English football

#6 Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovic changed the perception of transfer spending in England

Little did Ken Bates know that when he was selling Chelsea to Roman Abramovich in 2003, he was about to initiate a massive change in English football. Abramovich with his dubiously acquired billions spent £111 million on new players in his first month alone as owner.

The kind of money he threw around to assemble a trophy-winning squad had never been seen before in England and was able to break the duopoly that Arsenal and Manchester United had over the Premier League.

If you think Manchester City splurge money on buying players, then they probably learnt it from Abramovich and Chelsea. Since his arrival on the English football scene, Abramovich has consistently invested heavily in his club from buying players to refurbishing their infrastructure.

You might have missed it in the midst of all the outrage at the amount of money spent by Manchester United and City this season, but Chelsea were the third highest spenders with £122.25 million. Abramovich’s contribution to English football can almost be summed as revolutionary in many ways.