With Rafael Benitez steadying the ship and promising the baying mob of Chelsea fans that he would be leaving at the end of the season, the next managerial appointment would shape the club for potentially the next decade.
Entering their fourth season without a League title, Abramovich called for somebody that had proven before that he can win the Premier League with Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho
That’s right, the return of the special one was announced to take Chelsea into their next chapter.
The squad needed strengthening, however Willian was the only major signing that summer. Chelsea went into the season with a strike force of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto.
Chelsea finished 3rd in the league that season, the highlight being Ba’s goal after Steven Gerrard’s slip.
They also managed to reach the semi-final of the Champions League, where they lost out to Atlético Madrid.
The following season, Chelsea acted swiftly and decisively to give Mourinho a side capable of going a step further.
In came Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luís and Chelsea won the league at an absolute canter, remaining in first place from matchday 1 through to match day 38.
They also picked up a league cup with a 2-1 victory over rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and you would be forgiven into thinking that another sustained period of Chelsea dominance under Mourinho was beginning.
It it would be, however, Mourinho’s third season which would decide his legacy.
During the opening game against Swansea City, physio Eva Caniero entered the field to tend to an injured Eden Hazard.
Mourinho was apoplectic and the fallout from the row would cast a shadow over the club. From that moment Mourinho had lost the players.
Chelsea went into free fall, and were in 16th place and facing a quite serious battle with potential relegation.
Mourinho was replaced by Guus Hiddink and Chelsea rose to the heady heights of 10th. The following season Chelsea would be without European football, a disaster they could not afford to repeat.
Win percentage: 59%
Games managed: 136
Antonio Conte
Ahead of the 2016 European Championships, Chelsea announced that the Italian National team coach Antonio Conte would become the clubs new manager.
The passionate displays on the touch line during the competition meant many Chelsea supporters had already fallen for Conte before he had even started.
But Conte’s Chelsea career was almost all over before it had even started. A poor start to the season including big defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal left Conte on the brink of the sack.
Conte changed formation to his preferred 3-5-2 formation. The club went on a 14 game win streak and ended the season with 30 wins, a Premier League record.
Oh and a Premier League title.
Dark clouds however, were already forming. Conte had fallen out with Diego Costa over a failed move to China.
Conte also clashed with the board over transfer targets, and is rumoured to have told the club he was leaving and turned his phone off for a week.
The second season started similar to the first, with Chelsea keeping City company at the top of the table but further clashes over January signings had all but finished Conte’s reign as Chelsea Manager.
He remained until the end of the season, where Chelsea finished in 5th place.
The messy situation continued however, with Conte taking the first two days of pre-season training before being relieved on his duties.
Win percentage: 65%
Games managed: 106
Maurizio Sarri
And now here were are, almost one season into the biggest culture shock in Roman’s reign.
Sarri’s start has been a mixed bag, after a better than expected start, a shocking performance away to Tottenham sparked a mid season collapse.
This followed other poor performances away to Arsenal, Bournemouth and Manchester City, which almost had Sarri out the door.
Chelsea fans remain split on whether Sarri has got what it takes to put Chelsea back in a title race next season.
Improved performances after City in the Carabao Cup and Spurs in the league have probably given Sarri a stay of execution until the summer at least.
But unless Champions League football returns to Stamford Bridge next season, there may be a new name to add to the list.
