The best Chelsea players of all time

Chelsea are often criticised for being a club with little history in comparison to England’s other giants, but that’s simply not true.

While the Blues have enjoyed far greater success since Roman Abramovich took ownership of the club in 2003, they still boasted some of the country’s best players prior to the Russian oligarch’s arrival in the noughties.

Chelsea won an array of trophies across the 20th century despite things having gone up a notch in recent years, and their extensive list of club legends seemingly gets longer with each passing year.

Here are the 25 best Chelsea players of all time.

The French centre-back spent six incredible years at Stamford Bridge and established himself as one of the world’s best during his time in west London.

The 1998 World Cup winner may have only won one major trophy in Chelsea blue – the 2000 FA Cup – but he will live long in the memory of the club’s supporters for his commanding displays at the back.

The Scottish winger enjoyed two separate spells with Chelsea, spanning a decade in total. He won the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup with the Blues, the only trophies he ever managed in his career.

The tricky attacker was one of Chelsea’s chief creators during his time at Stamford Bridge, eventually finishing his career in the United States.

As far as free transfers go, there haven’t been many better than Ballack in the Premier League era. The German arrived in London in 2006 and spent four trophy-laden years with the Blues towards the end of his career.

Despite being in his 30s during his Chelsea days, Ballack still bossed midfields up and down the country on a weekly basis, with his crowning achievement a Premier League title in 2010.

Ivanovic wasn’t expected to necessarily achieve great things at Chelsea, arriving from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2008. However, nine years later, he played his final game for the Blues, leaving as an absolute cult hero.

The Serbian right-back was a surprising goal threat bombing up and down the flank, and he left everything on the Stamford Bridge turf every time he stepped foot on it.

Tambling was a fantastic goal-getter for Chelsea and sits second in the club’s all-time rankings. The…