Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck is adamant owner Roman Abramovich is as committed as ever.
The Russian billionaire bought the Blues in 2003 - but has not attended a match at Stamford Bridge since Spring 2018 - when the UK government delayed his visa renewal.
Despite the frustrations and the shelved stadium plan, Buck has poured cold water on rumours of the Blues being on the market.
He told the Guardian: "So far as I know, absolutely not; to the contrary. I have never heard a word from Mr Abramovich: 'Let's get ready for a sale,' or something.
"Because of the political situation, there are people who think they might want to buy Chelsea Football Club at a bargain. We do get inquiries and we really have nothing to say to these people.
"In terms of being involved, in looking at new players, talking about whether to extend players' contracts, do we buy this player, do we sell this player, [Abramovich] was always intimately involved in that from day one and is just as intimately involved now.
He talks to Marina [Granovskaia] the board member who supervises the football operation several times a day, every day. Marina has been doing that for seven or eight years; that hasn't let up or changed at all."
When quizzed about whether the club seems to be on hold, Buck replied: "I understand what you are saying and it is hard to disprove it, except to say: 'Let's see what happens in the next transfer window.'
"The point I am making it's a glib one if we go out in the next window and spend a zillion, it's pretty hard to argue that things are on hold."
