Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich recently expressed his intention to sell the club amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian owner has come to the conclusion seeking the club's best interest.
The sale also comes considering the fact that the United Kingdom government might impose sanctions on high-value Russian individuals. This would lead to the seizing of Abramovich's assets and indirectly affect the functioning of the club significantly.
Roman Abramovich made Chelsea his passion
Taking into account all the consequences, Abramovich has very little choice left at his disposal. It is an unexpected end to what has been a memorable and wonderful journey since he took over in 2003.
A lot of credit goes to the 55-year-old for how he revolutionized the club and made them a huge force in England and Europe. On that note, let's take a look at Roman Abramovich's greatest achievements at Chelsea.
#5 Making the women's team a brutal force
Over time, women's football has gained a lot of recognition and rightly so. And Abramovich hasn't held back in this department and has given his utmost support to Chelsea's women's team.
Since 2014, the women's team has won 11 trophies in total, including reaching the Women's Champions League final last May. It was only after Roman's arrival that the team kept on achieving success year after year.
Club legend Petr Cech spoke to manager Emma Hayes prior to the sale announcement and the club's dedication and support was more than assured. The women's team face Manchester City in the Continental Cup final at the weekend.
#4 Attracting top players
There is no denying that the past 25 years have been the best in the history of Chelsea Football Club. A lot of credit for that goes to Abramovich.
Ever since his arrival, he has invested money in bringing in top quality managers without hesitation. Despite Chelsea not being a massive club back then, he made sure that the club's football and culture attracted big players.
A number of world-class players have joined the Blues this century. This includes the likes of Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante, Cesar Azpilicueta and many others. They chose to join the club and contributed in bringing a lot of success.
#3 Development of the academy
Chelsea, under Roman Abramovich's ownership, certainly invested in bringing in top players. But they also encouraged the development of youngsters from their academy. The Blues have some of the finest young footballers at their disposal courtesy of their academy.
Over the years, wonderful players have come through the academy and the process continues. The likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Andreas Christensen and many others are some examples of the talent the Blues have developed.
John Terry remains one of their best academy products as the London club continue to generate sensational talent year after year. Chelsea's policy of loaning out some of their academy players has turned out to be productive in most cases.
#2 Dominance in England
There is a reason why Abramovich is appreciated a lot by the Chelsea fans. Prior to his arrival, the Blues had won the league only once in the 1954-55 season.
Since then, they have managed to win it five more times, all of it coming under Roman's ownership. The club has won 21 trophies in the Roman Abramovich era, the joint-best with Manchester United.
No other club in England has come close to challenging in this case. This speaks volumes of how brutally effective and successful the Blues have been under his reign. For the same duration, Manchester City have won 18, Arsenal have won 11 and Liverpool have won 10 trophies.
#1 Winning every major trophy
It is truly commendable what Abramovich has achieved with Chelsea since taking over in 2003. The Russian has to date spent more than £2 billion in bringing the best of players to the club.
Roman has hired 15 managers in the last 19 years as the club's owner yet ended up with 21 trophies. To date, the Blues have won five Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies and five FA Cups. They have also won three league Cups, two Europa Leagues, two Community Shields, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Chelsea have won every major trophy in existence. They have joined the elite list of European football clubs that include Ajax, Juventus, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
All of this has happened under Abramovich's ownership, which only makes it even sadder given how compelled the Russian is to sell the club.