In modern English football history, there has hardly ever been a club owner as loved and revered by their fans as Chelsea's Roman Abramovich.
The Russian oligarch pumped money into Chelsea between 2003 and 2022, turning them into a winning machine. In addition to his spending, he invested his time in the club, making multiple appearances at Stamford Bridge and their Cobham training ground throughout the season.
Abramovich bought the club for £140 million in July 2003, rescuing the west London outfit from significant financial trouble, and immediately began bringing in leading talents from all over the world.
Within two years, he had conquered England, winning the Premier League in swashbuckling style with a young Jose Mourinho at the helm.
Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea in 2022 due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Clearlake Capital took over the ownership of the club.
The club won every possible honour under the ownership of the Russian businessman and was firmly cemented as one of the world's best teams.
Since 2022, however, they have failed to reach the same heights, winning only the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup titles despite spending heavily on some of the best young talent in world football.
In this article, we put together the best XI of players who played for the club during Abramovich's ownership and after he sold it.
Chelsea Best XI During and After Abramovich
Goalkeeper - Petr Cech
Chelsea have enjoyed some very impressive goalkeepers over the years, but none comes close to Petr Cech.
With Carlo Cudicini firmly established as the club's first choice, Cech joined the club from Rennes in the summer of 2004 for £7 million.
Cudicini sustained an injury in pre-season, allowing Cech to begin the season as Mourinho's first choice. He went on to keep 24 clean sheets, a record that stands to this day, and won the Golden Glove.
He was named the Fans' Man of the Match in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final as the Blues defeated Bayern Munich on penalties.
Cech holds the record for the most clean sheets in Premier League history and is the fastest shot-stopper to reach 100 clean sheets in the competition, doing so in just 180 games.
Right-Back - Branislav Ivanovic
Over the years, Chelsea have been blessed with some of the finest defenders to have graced European football in their era.
In January 2008, they struck gold as they signed Branislav Ivanovic from Lokomotiv Moscow in a £9.7 million deal.
He overcame a tough start to life at Stamford Bridge to make his debut for the club eight months after he first signed, having failed to impress in training prior to this time.
Ivanovic remained at Stamford Bridge until 2017, winning nine major honours including the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
He played 377 times for the club and scored 34 goals, putting him behind only John Terry in the list of goalscorers for the club among defenders.
Centre-Back - John Terry
"Captain, leader, legend", John Terry's banner reads at Stamford Bridge, showing how he is viewed at the club.
A Chelsea player from the age of 14, Terry was named as the captain of the club in the summer of 2004, and delivered successive Premier League titles to West London.
As of July 2007, he was the highest-paid player in the Premier League, a testament to how highly regarded he was in English football.
A two-footed, no-nonsense defender, Terry struck fear in the hearts of opposition strikers with his presence at the heart of the Blues' backline.
He enjoyed great success at Chelsea, playing over 700 games for the club before leaving at the end of the 2016-17 season. He remains the only player to captain his team to five Premier League titles.
Centre-Back - Thiago Silva
Regarded as one of the world's best in his prime, Thiago Silva joined Chelsea in 2020, following the failure of Paris Saint-Germain to offer him a new deal.
He joined the Blues as a 35-year-old and went on to play 151 times for the club, anchoring their backline for four years.
The veteran proved his worth with his displays, winning the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup before leaving the club in 2024.
Left-Back - Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is regarded by many as one of the greatest left-backs of his generation, and this designation was largely due to his displays at club level.
He joined Chelsea from Arsenal in 2006 after beginning his career at Arsenal, and went on to become a bonafide legend at Stamford Bridge.
Cole appeared 338 times for the Blues between 2006 and 2014 and won nine major honours at the club.
Central Midfield - N'Golo Kante
The saying "70% of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by N'Golo Kante" may sound like an exaggeration to those who did not watch the Frenchman at his peak at Chelsea.
Kante was everywhere on the pitch in every game, covering every blade of grass with his relentless running and innate ability to locate the ball, wherever it was.
He joined Chelsea after helping Leicester City to lift the Premier League title in 2015-16, and immediately helped the Blues to win the title in the 2016-17 season.
Kante went on to play 269 times for the Blues, winning multiple honours, including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
Central Midfield - Frank Lampard
Arguably the greatest goalscoring midfielder the modern game has ever seen, Frank Lampard is Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer with 211 goals from midfield.
He joined the Blues from West Ham in 2001 and appeared 648 times for the club before leaving in the summer of 2014 as a free agent.
Lampard scored the goal that secured Chelsea's first Premier League title for 50 years in the 2004-05 season, and was captain on the night that the Blues won the Champions League title in Munich in 2012.
Attacking Midfield - Cesc Fabregas
Spanish midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas was a shock addition to the Chelsea squad ahead of the 2014-15 season.
A former captain of rivals Arsenal, he joined the Blues after a spell at boyhood club Barcelona and became an instant hit at Stamford Bridge.
He helped the club to win two Premier League titles, including one in his first season, and won the League Cup and FA Cup. He appeared 198 times and recorded 53 assists and 23 goals in blue.
Right Wing - Cole Palmer
The biggest success story of the Clearlake era, Chelsea's decision to invest £45 million on a fringe player from Manchester City initially looked like a colossal waste of money.
Cole Palmer's instant success at the club led the fans to rethink their initial reservations about the transfer fee, as he quickly established himself as the latest superstar at Stamford Bridge.
Still only 24, he has played 137 games for the Blues, scoring 56 goals and contributing 33 assists since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Left Wing - Eden Hazard
Arguably Chelsea's most talented player ever, no Chelsea list will be complete without the inclusion of Eden Hazard at one point or another.
The Belgian superstar had torn the French Ligue 1 to shreds when Chelsea signed him at 21 years old ahead of the 2012-13 season.
He went on to feature for the club on 352 occasions and scored 110 goals across seven years, all while getting fans off their seats in every game he played.
He was voted Chelsea Player of the Year on a record four occasions and won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the UEFA Europa League.
Striker - Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba delivered the club's most desired trophy, the UEFA Champions League, with the final kick of his first spell at Stamford Bridge, and for that alone, deserves a place in this XI.
Signed from Olympique de Marseille at the insistence of José Mourinho in 2004, Drogba was a resounding success at SW6, where he is spoken of among the club's greatest players of all time.
Drogba scored 164 goals in 381 games across two spells for the Blues, winning four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, and the Champions League.
He contributed to all these triumphs, scoring an incredible nine goals in nine cup finals for the Blues. He won the Premier League Golden Boot on two occasions.
