Roman Abramovich’s influence over English football during these past 12 years has been enormous but the simple truth is that we still know relatively little of how he operates. We always assumed that he shares the same utter ruthlessness in pursuit of winning as Jose Mourinho but his treatment of Cech has underlined two other factors. The first is just how much emotional attachment Abramovich feels towards the original ‘pillars’ of his first great Chelsea team. Men like Cech, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry will always be special cases while he owns the club. It meant that Abramovich was unwilling to break an informal promise to Cech, understood to have been made last summer, that he would let him join the club of his choice provided a sufficient offer was forthcoming. Abramovich could not have known that events would ultimately place Arsenal at the front of the queue but, even amid considerable pressure from Mourinho and captain Terry, he has never wavered in the commitment he gave to Cech.