It looks black for Blues if Roman can’t get in

The slashing of spending, the frustrations over the stadium, another divorce and the fact that Chelsea have won everything anyway have all suggested he is no longer living the dream.

This season in particular he’s not been the trigger-happy owner that managers feared to look in the eye. If he had been, Antonio Conte would have been sleeping with the fishes since September.

No one has tested the Russian’s patience more. Not even Jose Mourinho. Roberto di Matteo won the supreme prize but his face didn’t fit. Luis Felipe Scolari caused a dressing room revolt, AVB lacked authority. Carlo Ancelotti barely raised his left eyebrow. All got the thumbs down.

But Conte has questioned the competence of Abramovich’s chosen people as well as the club’s ambition. His sins have been cardinal yet he’s survived. For the owner to tolerate this level of insubordination just to avoiding paying him off could be telling.

If he’s not feeling the pinch – scraping by on his last £9 billion (RM48bn) – it’s a new message he’s sending out: Chelsea no longer offer the most sumptuous buffet on the managerial gravy train.

He wants them to be self-sufficient and no longer dependent on his handouts. And the ace he once had in his hand has been trumped – Man City are richer. They also have Pep Guardiola, the manager he tried so desperately to woo.

Although he has enjoyed consistent success, there is still a gnawing sense of unfulfilment. His dream was not just to win but to win with style and Chelsea have for the most part been a bit too workaday for that.

And he’s not had the best of luck. He was denied the Holy Grail in his home town by John Terry’s slip and a year later in the semifinal against Barcelona there were those penalty claims. And when he did win it, it was with a manager he didn’t rate.

Off the field, it has been even more frustrating. Almost since he arrived in 2003, he’s wanted to move from Stamford Bridge. But a forensic search of central London produced only Battersea power station that was big and close enough.

But the chance of an iconic backdrop was lost when he was outbid by none other than a Malaysian consortium. So it was back to the drawing board and a rebuilt Bridge.

But the planning rules and rights of obstructive neighbours have driven him – a man who rode roughshod over the old Soviet Union – to distraction.

And now, when all that has been finally sorted, he finds that Wembley stadium, where they’ll have to play for at least two seasons while the new stadium is built, could be sold to the owner of Fulham, of all people.

The home of football may never be the same after Shahid Khan has done with it as he has big plans for gridiron among other desecrations. Slotting home games around them on a pitch that has been defiled the day before is not part of the master plan.

Abramovich loves the club too much to leave Chelsea in the lurch but the days of unlimited largesse – outbidding the rest – are already over. If he can’t come back, its days as a super club might be over too.

It would mean no more silly money – either for players or managers – no more ridiculous payoffs; some seasons in the Europa League and the top four would still be aspired to but not the default setting. It could also mean fewer trophies.

The new stadium? Only he knows. Whatever happens, at least the fans will be able to look back fondly – and even shout about – their “istry”. It wouldn’t be much consolation.