The Portuguese’s Chelsea teams often had an elite spine, with the trio being part of it.

Of course, Roman Abramovich spent big money to bring in a lot of Mourinho’s signings. But there was one player who did not cost Chelsea a single penny and thus proved to be an absolute bargain for the Blues.

In 2006, Chelsea signed Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich on a free transfer after the expiry of his contract there.

Captain of Germany at the time and one of the best midfielders in the world, Mourinho felt English football should have been grateful to have seen Ballack arrive.

“Chelsea is very happy and we think English football should be very happy Ballack plays for Chelsea and plays in the Premiership,” the Special One was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

“We have a team of champions and to improve a team of champions we need champions. A champion is coming here to help follow our target for next year.”

Joe Cole does not think Ballack got the credit he deserved during his time at Chelsea, and the ex-England international is not wrong.

Michael Ballack Chelsea’s best ever bargain

While Chelsea are usually heavy spenders in the transfer market, they have been able to land some bargains down the years.

Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante for less than £35m each proved to be phenomenal business, while what the club got out of Cesar Azpilicueta for a mere £7m is ridiculous.

Before Abramovich’s takeover in 2003, Chelsea also signed Frank Lampard for just £11m, a player who would go on to become the club’s all-time top scorer.

The difference between Ballack and those four players, though, is that he arrived at Stamford Bridge as the finished article, costing the Blues nothing.

Ballack went on to make 167 appearances for Chelsea across a successful four-year spell in west London. In that time, he scored 26 goals and helped the club to win one Premier League title and three FA Cups.

Ballack only lost 10 out of the 105 top-flight games he played in for Chelsea, giving him an incredible win percentage of 70.48%.

On a free transfer, Ballack’s move to Chelsea is one of the best deals English football has ever seen.