Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has claimed in an interview with The Telegraph that Roman Abramovich stopped him from bringing in Luka Modric during his time at the club.
The Portuguese manager held the worst ever win rate under the former owner, winning less than half of his games before being sacked midway through his first season in charge.
Looking back, his time with the club became even more forgettable, after replacement Roberto di Matteo led the Blues to Champions League glory later in the same campaign.
Villas-Boas notably disagreed with a number of the club’s senior players, which ultimately contributed to his downfall a decade ago.
However, things might not have been so bad had he been allowed to sign any of the players he wanted, claiming Abramovich stopped him from signing Luka Modric.
Villas-Boas wanted Modric
He said: “We missed the deal with Modric. If the Modric deal was not to be done, there was the Moutinho deal to be done. That was Roman’s promise. So this denial of him was a failure you can’t [blame on] a coach.
“I thought we made the deal with Modric and he ended up at Real Madrid the following season. Roman felt p——d off. So, no Modric.
The 37-year-old has obviously done some sensational things since arriving in Spain, with him winning his fifth Champions League title last year.
Perhaps the club can look back on the game against Chelsea in that winning run and thank the Croatian for his sensational assist from nothing as he watched an embarrassing outing in front at the Bernabeu.
There is no doubt that the decision to frequently leave Frank Lampard out of the starting side would have been better made had his replacement been Modric.