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Abramovich is an anorak - Buck

Bruce Buck claims Roman Abramovich's passion for football is as strong as ever © PA Photos

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Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has revealed owner Roman Abramovich is a football anorak and claims the Russian had "changed football forever".

The Russian billionaire no longer attends every Chelsea match, but Buck insists Abramovich's passion has not diminished. In a new book by sports journalist Ian Ridley, Buck gave a rare insight into the fiercely private oligarch, who was naive about the level of media interest his buying Chelsea would generate.

"We thought, 'Yeah, it will be a decent story for a couple of weeks and then Roman will go back and have his private life'," Buck said. "Because he is a very private guy. He clearly didn't do things for the notoriety or publicity because that is not him."

After deciding he "wouldn't mind buying a football team", Abramovich's advisors narrowed the search down to Chelsea and Tottenham. They failed to secure a meeting with Tottenham, and so Abramovich's billions were poured into Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea's riches are now eclipsed by big-spending Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, but Buck says Chelsea led the revolution when it came to foreign owners.

"That's why we aren't complaining about some of the things City are doing," Buck admitted. "We started it after all but, having said that, it is a free world. Obviously what we have done has not pleased the fans of West Ham or Manchester United, but they sure have pleased the fans at Chelsea."

Buck claimed Abramovich's knowledge of football had "increased exponentially" and wherever he was in the world, he would never fail to watch Chelsea. "I would say that his passion for Chelsea has increased not decreased," Buck said.

"His passion for football has increased, not decreased. His knowledge of football has increased exponentially. I'm not talking about what goes at the megastore, I'm talking about football. It would be pretty hard to name a current footballer that he couldn't give you statistics for.

"But he doesn't miss a game in the sense that wherever he is in the world he watches the Chelsea game. He calls Eugene Tenenbaum [trusted club director and associate] or whoever after the game and they talk about it. He is very much on top of things."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.