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Five most impactful Chelsea players of the Roman Abramovich era

By Olaoluwa Nwobodo

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 19: Didier Drogba (L) of Montreal Impact and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (R) are seen on the stand prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 19: Didier Drogba (L) of Montreal Impact and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (R) are seen on the stand prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: John Terry of Chelsea salutes the crowd after the Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on May 21, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: John Terry of Chelsea salutes the crowd after the Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on May 21, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

1. John Terry (Centerback)

John Terry is popularly known in the Chelsea community as Mr. Chelsea and it’s easy to see why. Terry came from Chelsea’s academy and he was vice-captain when the Russian oligarch bought the club. Mourinho appointed the Englishman captain before the 2004/05 season and Terry would go on to be club’s captain until his departure following the 2016/17 title-winning campaign.

Terry also became a legend of the game while at Chelsea, breaking and setting some Chelsea and Premier League defensive records in his time under Mourinho. Terry holds the record for the most clean sheets in a Premier League season (25), he even had more clean sheets than his goalkeeper. Terry also holds the record for the most goals scored by a defender in Premier League history (41). He was as much a no-nonsense centerback as he was a ball-playing centerback (my Football Manager people will know what I mean by that).

Terry led Chelsea to two Champions League finals. He missed a penalty in the first one, a miss that opened up the chance for Manchester United to win the shootout, which the Red Devils took. He was absent for the second one due to a red card in the semifinal first leg. Chelsea won the second one though, much to Terry’s delight as it cemented his place in the club’s folklore, despite his absence in the final. Terry’s impact was so pronounced that—despite only making nine appearances in Chelsea’s 2016/17 title-winning campaign—he was still a very influential presence in the dressing room. How much impact he actually had is obviously up for debate, but this much is true: Chelsea has not challenged for the league title since he left that season.

It’s difficult to enumerate every achievement by Terry in the Abramovich era, but he was a key figure in every trophy won in the first 14 years of Abramovich’s reign. Terry left Chelsea having racked up 599 appearances in the Abramovich era. He played major roles in 17 major trophies; including all five of Chelsea’s Premier League titles, five FA Cup titles, three League Cup titles, one Champions League title and one Europa League title. Captain. Leader. Legend.

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All statistics are courtesy of Transfermarkt.

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