Abramovich thinks EVERYONE has their own yacht and plane, former Chelsea employee claims

But what does it do for his understanding of lesser mortals?

Yesterday it was suggested he may be so detached from the real world that he thinks everyone owns a yacht and a private jet.

Roman Abramovich, with model girlfriend Daria Zhukova, leaps into the water off the deck of his yacht Le Grand Bleu

Just one of Roman Abramovich's spectacular yachts, the Le Grand Bleu. The 355-foot yacht carries a 72-foot sailboat

The mind of the Russian billionaire who bought Chelsea Football Club came under compelling public scrutiny when former senior employee Paul Smith appeared before an employment tribunal claiming £1million in wages and bonuses he says he was cheated out of.

Mr Smith, interim chief executive of the club at the start of the Abramovich reign, said that, in pursuit of the benefits he claims he was promised, he was caught between Abramovich and the man brought from Manchester United to take over as chief executive, Peter Kenyon.

Paul Smith suggested Roman Abramovich 'thinks that everybody owns a plane and a yacht'

He described Mr Kenyon as 'dodgy and diving' and said he kept 'hiding behind Abramovich's skirt' whenever he tried to talk about pay.

'Curiously, Mr Kenyon declared that he was sympathetic to the position that I found myself in and believed that Mr Abramovich was so detached from the real world that he didn't make decisions that would be regarded as rational by the general public,' Mr Smith told the hearing.

'Maybe Mr Abramovich thought that everyone had their own plane and yacht already, and possibly he wasn't familiar with the concept of mortgage payments.'

But he stressed: 'Mr Abramovich would spend £587million on Chelsea by the time I left, so I doubt that he was daunted by the size of my prospective salary.'

ANOTHER of Abramovich's spectacular yachts, the Pelorus, which is even larger than Le Grand Bleu and which has a helipad on the bow

Abramovich's private jet

From the witness stand at the Central London Employment Tribunal, Mr Smith lifted the lid on what Chelsea bosses really think of the massive salaries demanded by their star players.

He described the time when club captain John Terry, who earns £150,000 a week, signed a new contract in July last year.

When Mr Kenyon told him Terry had signed Mr Smith replied, 'That's good. Will it be enough do you think?' He said Mr Kenyon replied: 'I don't know. It is never enough, is it? They always want more.'

Mr Smith said he was led to believe he would be paid £700,000 a year at Stamford Bridge in the time when Kenyon worked out his 'gardening leave' after being poached from Manchester United.

He said: 'There was high anxiety that Chelsea could go off the rails. In the rush to get me in Stamford Bridge, there was no letter of appointment, no confirmation of the terms of my engagement and no job description.

'Mr Abramovich merely told me "not to screw up".'

He says he was the mastermind behind a £55million deal that made Samsung the club's shirt sponsor and the multi-million pound signing of the hugely-successful goalkeeper Petr Cech.

He told the tribunal he had sold his new Aston Martin to fund his legal fees.

The hearing continues.