He is an individual from whom we have heard next to nothing across the course of 19 unforgettable years at Chelsea — so the statement, when it came, was extra-ordinary. Brief yet entirely authentic in the emotion it was attempting to convey.
‘Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me,’ was the emotional core of Roman Abramovich’s 277 words.
We do not know what this man’s English sounds like, because his grasp of the language is less confident than many imagine. But the regret and private agonies spoke through those lines.