Willian has reminisced on his time at Chelsea and revealed who he believes is the club's best manager after Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea have many managers in recent times who have departed Stamford Bridge after claiming success in west London.

Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel all won trophies during their time at the club. Frank Lampard also succeeded during his stint after replacing Maurizio Sarri, who departed after winning the Europa League.

Willian, who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2013 from Anzhi Makhachkala, played under several Blues managers. 

He joined the club to play for Mourinho, before playing under Guus Hiddink, Conte, Sarri and Lampard prior to leaving after seven years in 2020.

The Brazilian won two Premier League titles, one Europa League, one FA Cup and one League Cup, making his time in the English capital a huge success. Willian made 339 appearances in all competitions, scoring 63 goals and contributing 58 assists.

Mourinho is held in high regard, and rightly so, by those he managed at Chelsea. He had two successful stints in charge, and the Portuguese is named as Willian's best manager at the club.

But who was in second place?

Despite not winning a trophy under Lampard, the now-Coventry City boss guided Chelsea to a Champions League qualification finish despite a transfer ban and the loss of the club's best player, Eden Hazard, to Real Madrid upon his arrival in 2019.

Speaking on The Obi One podcast about Lampard, Willian said: "He was top. He was top. For me, at Chelsea, after Mourinho, he was the best."

Willian also played with Lampard for one season in 2013/14 before the Englishman left after his contract expired.

He left for Arsenal in the summer of 2020, staying in London so his family didn't have to relocate.

Willian's departure from Chelsea wasn't because the club didn't want to keep him. 

The now 38-year-old revealed in a previous interview that Chelsea were only prepared to offer him a two-year extension, while Willian wanted a longer deal, which Arsenal were willing to match.

“I wanted a three-year contract and Chelsea were only offering a two-year deal, so I ended up not renewing my contract," Willian told HBO Max.

“During those negotiations, Arsenal started showing interest. Many people say I should never have left Chelsea, family members as well.

“When I got there, it was a transition period, a lot of players left the club, others came in. I played during the pandemic as well, and that didn’t help. I couldn’t connect to the fans; the stadiums were empty.”

Following talks with Arteta, who convinced Willian to make them switch from west to north London, it didn't work out as planned.

“Arteta said to me, ‘We’re going to play like this, going to play like that. I want you to be the main guy. We’re going to build the team around you, blah blah blah'," he told The Obi One podcast.

"He said, ‘I want to give you the key of the club.’ When you hear that, obviously I love Chelsea but it was the last year of my contract.

"At 32 years old I was thinking three years more, London, my family love London. Then I decided.

"To be honest, I should have stayed. But at that moment I was thinking maybe the best solution was to go there.

"I signed for three years there but it was not good."