Jose Mourinho was still a tyro in Portugal and Roman Abramovich was yet to flex the true might of his money muscle in the transfer market, but it was last spring that Chelsea took their first steps towards the present day. If the first six months of the Abramovich era resulted in a dead end — as Claudio Ranieri tinkered and Pini Zahavi, the Russian’s transfer broker, brought in dilettantes like Juan Veron, Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu — the club went off on a new direction in the final third of last season. Spring 2004 began with the capture, from under Manchester United’s nostrils, of Arjen Robben and ended with moves to bring in Petr Cech.

Between the arrivals of these two outstanding young talents, players already at the club such as Frank Lampard and John Terry found themselves. Ranieri’s victory against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final was perhaps the moment modern-day Chelsea were born on the pitch. Without victory in 17 attempts against the Gunners, and having been beaten three times already during the campaign by Arsene Wenger’s team, Chelsea abruptly moved up a level when they defeated Arsenal in the second leg at Highbury.

Lampard, Terry, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Wayne Bridge suddenly glimpsed what was possible; their hunger for history-making was pricked. Around the same time as this, further significant developments were occurring elsewhere in the Champions League.

What had always been clear in the Mourinho household, and long been apparent in Oporto, was fast becoming obvious to everyone else. Here, indeed, was a special one. When Porto eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League last March, a whole continent began to pay serious heed to a genius that had been suggested when he won the Uefa Cup the previous year.

Everything about Mourinho was glimpsed on the night his side drew at Old Trafford to progress on away goals. He raced down the touchline, arms aloft, in goading defiance of the jeers that swirled from the home stands. As he reached the tunnel, his fists unclenched briefly and his hands rearranged themselves to make single-figure gestures. The furious, all-consuming sense of defiance that drives the Portuguese was seen in the recklessness of that moment; also the chutzpah, passion, arrogance and ego that makes him such a remarkable entity.

When he arrived at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho found a Chelsea who were on the right road but the way he has accelerated them towards glory has been brilliant. He arrived at Stamford Bridge with a clear sense of the three major signings he wanted to make: from his previous club Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho, and from Marseille a striker he had come up against and admired, Didier Drogba. Bang. Bang. Bang. £13.2m. £19.85m. £24m.

The players arrived. On Chelsea’s pre-season trip to the US, Mourinho shrewdly sized up the qualities of those he inherited and made key decisions. Terry was appointed captain and Lampard earmarked as the man attacking strategies would be built around. Damien Duff, William Gallas and Joe Cole were identified as men who could be retained and improved; and two players who many expected to be jettisoned, Claude Makelele and Gudjohnsen, were not only seen to be worth keeping, but made central to Mourinho’s plans.

Mourinho has the top-class manager’s knack of setting players up to operate in a way that uses their best abilities; you think of how Chelsea’s game is tailored to allow Lampard to exploit his shooting, or Duff and Robben their breakaway pace. He has improved players — most notably Terry and Cole. His egotism has at times been a ploy, taking the pressure off his team by ensuring the spotlight is always on him.

Rumours of how Chelsea might operate in the summer range from them bringing in two or three top-class footballers, to signing 11 or 12. What is clear is they will push on. Arsenal, with their youngsters growing, will challenge them. United have greater problems to solve yet cannot be ruled out as a force. But all that is for next season. For now salute Chelsea, the champions.

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