Even as recently as last Saturday it still wasn't quite hitting home for many.
The decision by some Chelsea supporters to sing Roman Abramovich's name during the supposed moment of unity for Ukraine before the clash with Burnley at Turf Moor was widely condemned by many, including Thomas Tuchel, but even then it wasn't quite viewed in the manner that it would come to be.
Then on Thursday, everything changed.
The sanctions imposed on the Chelsea owner didn't just suddenly make things seem very real, they spelled out that stark reality in giant neon letters.
For Chelsea to go from a position as one of the top five teams in the world right now to being unable to open their own club shop really is quite something, and if the complete and utter reliance on Abramovich wasn't clear to some then it suddenly became so.
On Thursday morning, at around 11am, the club store at Stamford Bridge suddenly ceased to do business, shipping fans out of the door including some who had travelled from far and wide.
A sign was placed on the door indicating that the store couldn't open due to 'the latest government announcement' - something that we'd all grown used to seeing in lockdown but suddenly looked out of place.
Online the sale of tickets was halted, and talk of the club being unable to spend money on travel to away games - they are at Norwich in the Premier League on Thursday evening, and go to Lille in the Champions League next midweek - was rife. Would they have to get the bus to France? What if they draw Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the next round? How do they get there?
Suddenly there are so many uncertainties around a club that centre on even the most basic of things, from selling tickets or merchandise in the club shop to paying their players.
The squad are said to be shaken by what has gone on, and understandably so.
The agent of one French-speaking player is believed to have raised employment queries, reportedly saying : "How can they ban the club from selling players?
"Surely there are employment law implications for players who were due to leave now essentially being trapped?"
Others who were hoping for new contracts will now have to either be patient or accept that they won't be getting them at all.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are all out of contract at the end of the season and as it stands will leave, while Saul Niguez won't make his loan move permanent. He won't be allowed to.
Odds have tumbled on Thomas Tuchel being the next Premier League manager to leave his post, and while the German hasn't indicated as such he is sure to be somewhat bewildered by what is going on.
Everything that the club have known has suddenly been whipped away from under their feet, but then perhaps that was always going to be the case with Abramovich in charge, and especially due to events in the past few weeks in his homeland.
The threat of sanctions has been slowly building up for a while, but there is now a sense that Chelsea don't look prepared for what they may look like on a practical level.
The club are still allowed to operate as per a special licence from the government, they haven't been wiped off the face of the earth, and rightly so.
But when they take to the Carrow Road pitch on Thursday night in shirts with their Three sponsorship logo removed it might suddenly start hitting home what all of this means.
Chelsea are currently in limbo, Abramovich needs to sell, and everything that has been built over the past 19 years looks very flimsy.
A modern club built on the money and apparent love of one man needs a new place to turn, because right now there is nowhere, and that is scary.
