The most successful era of Chelsea's history looks set to come to an end in the near future after Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale.
The Russian oligarch's arrival in English football in 2003 changed the entire landscape of the game in this country, almost immediately catapulting the Blues into contention for the biggest trophies.
During his 19-year tenure Abramovich has seen Chelsea win it all, from the EFL Cup in 2005 to the Club World Cup just last month, with five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the first two Champions League crowns in the club's history along the way.
In total, the West London giants have won 21 trophies since Abramovich's takeover and, while his departure is unlikely to dampen the club's desire to add to that trophy cabinet, there is no doubt that it is the Russian's influence which has allowed Chelsea to compete for those trophies.
While trophies have been a hallmark of Abramovich's reign, so to has been ruthless and fairly regular changes of managers, with 13 in total taking the permanent reins at Stamford Bridge since 2003.
Here, Sports Mole ranks each of them to find Chelsea's best manager of the Abramovich era.
13. Andre Villas-Boas (2011-12)
Honours: None
Win percentage: 48%
A man once regarded as the next Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas-Boas's time at Stamford Bridge lasted less than nine months before he was sacked by Abramovich with Chelsea sitting fifth in the Premier League table.
Having previously worked under Mourinho, enjoyed success as a young manager in Portugal and never played high-level football himself, the parallels to Chelsea's most successful ever manager were clear.
However, Villas-Boas won just 19 of his 40 matches at the helm and left with the lowest overall win percentage of any manager employed by Abramovich.
12. Luiz Felipe Scolari (2008-09)
Honours: None
Win percentage: 56%
Luiz Felipe Scolari arrived at Stamford Bridge with a big reputation - and deservedly so having led Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002 - but the Chelsea job was his first in club football for seven years.
Just seven months and 36 games later Scolari was gone, making him the person to have taken charge of the fewest games of any of Abramovich's permanent managers.
Chelsea sat fourth in the table at the time of his departure, and Scolari departed having won 20 of his 36 matches at the helm, drawing 11 and losing only five.
11. Frank Lampard (2019-21)
Honours: None
Win percentage: 52%
Having established himself as Chelsea's leading goalscorer of all time and arguably their greatest ever player under many of the other managers on this list, Frank Lampard was handed the reins himself in 2019.
The former England international took over at a difficult time, with the club facing a transfer embargo which effectively forced him to blood a number of youngsters in the first team - some notable ones of whom continue to carry the Lampard legacy at Stamford Bridge.
Under those circumstances, leading Chelsea to a fourth-placed finish and an FA Cup final can be considered a reasonable return for Lampard, but ultimately the results cost him and only Villas-Boas has a worse win percentage in the Abramovich era.
At the time of Lampard's exit following an 18-month reign, Chelsea sat ninth in the Premier League table.
10. Claudio Ranieri (2000-04)
Honours: None
Win percentage: 54%
The man in charge when Abramovich took over, Claudio Ranieri's time at Chelsea always felt like it was coming to an end in the summer of 2004, regardless of how his side performed.
The pursuit of Mourinho was the worst kept secret in football as Abramovich looked for a manager whom he felt could take Chelsea to the next level, meaning that Ranieri only had one season under the Russian at Stamford Bridge.
It was by no means a bad season either; the Italian led Chelsea to second place in the Premier League - their highest finish for 49 years and only bettered by Arsenal's 'Invincibles'. Abramovich wanted more, though, and the popular Ranieri ultimately paid the price.
9. Guus Hiddink (2009, 2015-16)
Honours: 1x FA Cup
Win percentage: 53%
Guus Hiddink is a difficult one to place on this list, having twice taken over as an interim manager, with varying degrees of success.
Certainly, there were many fans who felt that his first spell as Chelsea boss warranted a longer stay, having succeeded Scolari, led Chelsea to FA Cup glory and lost just one of his 22 games at the helm with a win percentage of 73% - the highest of any permanent managerial spell in Chelsea history.
Carlo Ancelotti eventually got the top job in the summer of 2009, but Hiddink's experience was called upon again in 2015 following the end of Mourinho's second reign.
The Dutchman oversaw 27 matches in that spell, but drew 11 of them while winning just 10 as Chelsea finished 10th in the table - their lowest finish in 20 years.
Hiddink was absolved of most of the blame, but his win percentage of 37% was the lowest of any single managerial tenure at Chelsea since Glenn Hoddle from 1993 to 1996, and brought his overall record down to 53%.
8. Rafael Benitez (2012-13)
Honours: 1x Europa League
Win percentage: 58%
Quite possibly the least popular Abramovich appointment given his history against Chelsea during his time in charge of Liverpool, Rafael Benitez's approval ratings were not helped by the fact that he took over from popular club legend Roberto Di Matteo.
Chelsea were reigning European champions but their failure to qualify from the group stages of the following season's Champions League saw Di Matteo sacked and Benitez brought in.
The Spaniard did his best to salvage the situation, leading the Blues to their first ever Europa League crown, but ultimately a third-placed finish in the Premier League and a record of 28 wins from his 48 games at the helm was not enough to convince Abramovich to keep him beyond the summer of 2013.
7. Maurizio Sarri (2018-19)
Honours: 1x Europa League
Win percentage: 62%
Another one-season wonder for Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri led Chelsea to their second Europa League crown six years after their first, and also emulated Benitez with a third-placed finish in the Premier League.
The Italian's superior win percentage, and the fact that he also steered Chelsea to the EFL Cup final, see him rank above Benitez in this list, and Sarri is one manager whom Abramovich may have liked to keep for longer.
Instead, he left for Juventus after just one eventful campaign with the Blues, which ended with silverware but also saw his tactics heavily questioned along the way and a very public bust-up with Kepa Arrizabalaga when the goalkeeper refused to be substituted during the EFL Cup final at Wembley.
6. Avram Grant (2007-08)
Honours: None
Win percentage: 67%
After the showmanship, headlines and antics of Mourinho, the appointment of relative unknown Avram Grant as his successor represented a fairly major shift in direction in terms of managers for Abramovich.
Not for the last time, Chelsea fans were initially unhappy with the decision before eventually warming to the new man at the helm - helped by a 16-game unbeaten run at the start of his reign which included a 6-0 win over Manchester City.
Grant's time at Stamford Bridge was ultimately a story of near misses, though; during the 2007-08 season Chelsea were beaten in the finals of the Champions League and the League Cup, as well as finishing second in the Premier League.
Even so, Grant's progression to the Champions League final was something even Mourinho had not achieved at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's 85-point haul in the Premier League was more than Mourinho's final season in charge and Grant's win percentage of 67% matched that of Mourinho's first spell at the club.
5. Roberto Di Matteo (2012)
Honours: 1x Champions League, 1x FA Cup
Win percentage: 57%
Roberto Di Matteo already had his place in Chelsea history before taking over as manager following Villas-Boas's sacking in 2012, but the glory of his less-than nine months in charge ensured that he will forever be regarded as a bona-fide club legend.
The Italian must go down as one of the greatest caretaker managers in football history, having only been handed the job on a permanent basis after leading Chelsea to Champions League and FA Cup glory.
The 2012 Champions League triumph included unlikely victories over Napoli and Barcelona en route to the final, where they beat firm favourites Bayern Munich in their own stadium to lift European football's biggest prize for the first time in their history.
Just two weeks earlier Chelsea had also beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup final, yet Di Matteo would last only a few more months in the job before being sacked after Chelsea were all but eliminated from the Champions League group stage with a game to spare.
In total, Di Matteo took charge of just 42 games as Chelsea boss - only Scolari and Villas-Boas oversaw fewer in the Abramovich era - but the success he enjoyed in that time will never be forgotten by the club's fans.
4. Antonio Conte (2016-18)
Honours: 1x Premier League, 1x FA Cup
Win percentage: 65%
One of only three men to have overseen more than 100 games as Chelsea boss in the Abramovich era, Antonio Conte had an immediate impact upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had finished 10th the previous season, but the Italian quickly restored them to be the dominant force in England, winning 30 of 38 top-flight games in his first season to lead them to a 93-point tally and the Premier League title.
The Blues also reached the FA Cup final that season and, while they lost at Wembley, they made up for that the following season by beating Manchester United in the final.
However, Chelsea's league form took a significant dip during what proved to be Conte's final season, as they lost 10 times and finished in fifth place, missing out on Champions League qualification.
Conte's win percentage of 65% is the best of any permanent manager in the Abramovich era, but his was a tale of two seasons and a lack of consistency prevents him from ranking any higher in this list.
3. Carlo Ancelotti (2009-11)
Honours: 1x Premier League, 1x FA Cup, 1x Community Shield
Win percentage: 61%
Having failed to win the title since 2006, Carlo Ancelotti's arrival at Stamford Bridge steered Chelsea back to the top of English football, and in some style too.
The Blues became the first club in almost 50 years to score more than 100 goals in an English top-flight league campaign, plundering 103 en route to the title, which was fittingly secured with an 8-0 obliteration of Wigan Athletic.
Less than a week later, Chelsea won the FA Cup to secure the club's first ever double and make it three trophies in Ancelotti's debut campaign, having lifted the Community Shield in his first competitive game at the helm.
The Blues then fought back following a poor spell to finish second the following season, although early exits from the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League ultimately contributed to Ancelotti's sacking at the end of the campaign.
2. Thomas Tuchel (2021-Present)
Honours: 1x Champions League, 1x UEFA Super Cup, 1x Club World Cup
Win percentage: 62%
It may seem early to include Thomas Tuchel so high up in this list, but that is testament to the work the German has done during his 13 months in the job.
Despite having the reins for a little over a year, Tuchel has already steered Chelsea into the final of every cup competition available to him - something no previous Chelsea manager has done.
The highlight so far has undoubtedly been the club's second Champions League crown - secured at Manchester City's expense last summer - which also led to Chelsea lifting the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup for the first time in their history.
Chelsea were on the losing side of the most recent FA Cup and EFL Cup finals, but the fact that they got there in the first place hints that they can expect to regularly be challenging for silverware as long as Tuchel is in the dugout.
The 48-year-old's win percentage stacks up against most of his predecessors and, while challenging for the Premier League title may take a bit longer, Abramovich certainly seems to be leaving Chelsea in safe hands.
1. Jose Mourinho (2004-07, 2013-15)
Honours: 3x Premier League, 1x FA Cup, 2x League Cup, 1x Charity Shield
Win percentage: 64%
Jose Mourinho declared himself 'The Special One' in his first press conference as Chelsea boss in 2004, and he went on to back that swagger up as Chelsea upset the natural Premier League order to well and truly kick the Abramovich era into gear.
Backed by spending the likes of which the Premier League had never seen before, Mourinho - already a Champions League winner from his time with Porto - led Chelsea to a record-breaking campaign during his first season at the helm.
The Blues lost just once en route to their first top-flight title for 50 years, racking up a then-record 95 points and conceding a measly 15 goals throughout the season, which remains a Premier League record.
Chelsea also won the League Cup that year, and more success followed the next season as they retained the title, this time with a 91-point haul.
Mourinho's third term at the helm brought with it a League Cup and FA Cup double, but an underwhelming start to the 2007-08 season saw the Portuguese boss part company after six trophies in three years and a win percentage of 67%.
That was not to be the end of their relationship, though, with Mourinho returning in 2013 and adding another League Cup and Premier League title to his trophy cabinet.
However, a dreadful start to the 2015-16 season, which saw Chelsea lose nine of their opening 16 league games, resulted in Mourinho being sacked for a second time, leaving with a win percentage of 59% from his second spell and of 64% overall.
Having gone on to take charge of rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, Mourinho's relationship with Chelsea fans has since deteriorated, but there is little doubt that he is the best manager of the Abramovich - or indeed any other - era as far as Chelsea are concerned. body check tags ::
