10 Biggest Dodged Bullets In Chelsea Transfer History

1. Sven Goran Eriksson

Abramovich's determination to turn Chelsea into a force to be reckoned with led to some rather naughty behaviour in his early years, poaching Peter Kenyon from Manchester United and reportedly tapping up a number of players - most infamously Ashley Cole during Jose Mourinho's first tenure - as he sought to upset the established Premier League hierarchies. A top club needed a top manager too, of course, and Abramovich wasn't shy in that regard either. With Sven Goran Eriksson enjoying some success with the English national team, Abramovich entirely shamelessly conducted several meetings with the mercenary Swede, supposedly as innocent consultations but generally accepted to be overtures to take over the Chelsea hotseat at the end of the season. Aside from being disrespectful to present manager Claudio Ranieri, who may have embarrassed himself with some baffling substitutions from time to time but nevertheless succeeded in getting the Blues in 2nd place in the league and the Champions League semi-finals (where unfortunately his tendency for tactical blunders came to the fore in a big way), but also drew a considerable amount of ire from England fans, for whom Eriksson was still a popular figure. Getting Eriksson out of the national team job proved impossible in any case and he instead went on to coach Manchester City, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, Leicester City and Guangzhou, being paid a lot of money for very little success. Unable to get his first choice, Abramovich instead had to settle for his backup pick, a cocky young Portuguese manager named Jose Mourinho. And if that's not enough to get Eriksson the top spot on a list of Chelsea's dodged bullets, I don't know what is. Agree or disagree with my selections? Let us know in the comments who you think represents the worst player (or manager) to almost pull on a Chelsea shirt!