Andre Villas-Boas is arguably Chelsea's worst manager of the Roman Abramovich era.
Hired in 2012 amidst great fanfare that he was the next Jose Mourinho, Villas-Boas ultimately lasted just nine months at Stamford Bridge with the Blues cut adrift in fifth place in the Premier League.
And although the west London club went on to become Champions League winners later that season, it's highly unlikely that it would ever have happened if Villas-Boas was still in the dugout.
Villas-Boas' time at Chelsea
However, believe it or not, the Portuguese's time with Chelsea wasn't completely unproductive because the signings that he oversaw were some of the finest that the club have completed.
We'll never know the extent to which Villas-Boas personally had a say on the 12 exciting purchases that transpired during his reign, but it's fair to say that it makes for an impressive roll call.
For a reign that lasted less than a year, Villas-Boas' signings look remarkable almost a decade on for mixing players that went on to become world-class and stars who became Chelsea heroes.
Chelsea's signings under Villas-Boas
So, let's reflect on an oft-forgotten period in Chelsea's history where their manager seemed to harvest terrible results, but brilliant signings, by checking out the 12 arrivals of his regime below:
1. Thibaut Courtois
What a start. Immediately loaned out to Atletico Madrid, Courtois went on to win two Premier League titles with the Blues and remains one of the world's best goalkeepers at Real Madrid.
2. Oriol Romeu
Although Romeu has never lived up to the exceptions that come up with being a Barcelona academy product, he's still gone on to become a sturdy Premier League player at Southampton.
3. Romelu Lukaku
The man of the moment. Park your thoughts about the current Lukaku situation for a second because there's no denying that this was a brilliant move that Chelsea should have stood behind.
Instead, they were made to watch him flourish into one of the world's best strikers from a distance, before re-signing him for a club record fee nine years after Villas-Boas first oversaw his arrival.
4. Juan Mata
Yet another inspired purchase, Mata won Chelsea's Player of the Year award in every full season that he played for the club and continued to perform as a top-level operator at Manchester United.
5. Ulises Dávila
Ok, so not every Villas-Boas signing was a big success with the 'Mexican Sensation' never making a first-team appearance for the club. He now plies his trade in the A-League with Macarthur FC.
6. Raul Meireles
Signed on the back of winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award at Liverpool, Meireles proved to be a one-season wonder for Chelsea and scored twice on the way to Champions League glory.
7. Sam Hutchinson
Re-signed from an early retirement brought about by injuries, Hutchinson pulled on the famous blue jersey five times and currently plays for Sheffield Wednesday via Vitesse and Nottingham Forest.
8. Kenneth Omeruo
Although Omeruo never made a senior appearance for Chelsea, the Leganes defender has made a successful career for himself nonetheless with 54 caps and an AFCON winners' medal with Nigeria.
9. Gary Cahill
You know you've done something right if you've signed a future club captain and Cahill went on to lift the FA Cup and Europa League as Chelsea's skipper, making a total of 290 appearances.
10. Lucas Piazon
Astonishingly, Piazon didn't actually leave Chelsea until January 2021 despite only ever making one Premier League appearance for the club in which he missed a penalty. He currently plays for Braga.
11. Kevin De Bruyne
What could have been? While losing Lukaku and Mohamed Salah both came back to bite Chelsea, there's good reason to think that letting 'KDB' slip through their fingers was the biggest error of all.
The Belgian is now widely viewed as one of the world's best players having won three Premier League titles and back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year awards at Manchester City.
12. Patrick Bamford
The Chelsea prodigy took his time to evolve into the top-class striker that we always knew he could become, but now he's sitting pretty with 20 Premier League goals and an England cap to his name.
Incredible signings from Villas-Boas
Now that's not a bad legacy for a manager who was ultimately hated at Chelsea, is it?
While it became very clear, very quickly that Villas-Boas wasn't cut out for top-end Premier League management at the time, there's no denying that he oversaw some remarkable transfers.
Besides, give or take Robert Lewandowski, there's good reason to think that Chelsea signed the world's best number nine and central midfield of 2021 respectively while Villas-Boas was in charge.
Marry that to Mata and Cahill absolutely flying in west London and Bamford going on to become a top Premier League striker and we can look past some of the less successful signings like Dávila.
So, the next time you look back on Villas-Boas' time in charge and sigh, rest easy knowing that it wasn't all so terrible and could easily have been even better if De Bruyne was never sold. Imagine.
