Ranieri pleased with record at the Bridge

Opinion remains divided on Claudio Ranieri’s time at Chelsea but the popular Italian remains convinced he was a success at Stamford Bridge.

Ranieri was sacked by the London club at the end of last season, despite leading them to second place in the Premiership and a semi-final spot in the Champions League.

Impressive achievements they may be but given Chelsea’s unparalleled resources, provided by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, they were deemed not enough to save his job.

He was quickly offered the chance to rebuild his reputation at UEFA Cup holders Valencia, one of his former clubs, as they attempt to retain the Primera Liga title they won last season under Rafael Benitez, now boss of Liverpool.

Ranieri had his critics but, on the eve of his return to England – Valencia visit Leeds in a pre-season friendly tomorrow – the 52-year-old insists he can look back on his time at Chelsea with great pride.

He told PA International: “I am very happy with what I achieved at Chelsea.

“Of course everyone wanted a little bit more in the Champions League because a lot of the favourites went out and we thought we could do really well.

“But I am happy because only a fantastic Arsenal took away the chance of achieving something special in the league.

“At the end of the day we got to the semi-finals of the Champions League and finished second in the table for the first time in 49 years.

“All the fans were very happy with the players and the squad and I was very happy with the achievement.”

Ironically, Ranieri’s early years at the Bridge, before Abramovich’s arrival, are widely regarded to be his best as he worked with a much tighter budget.

He added: “When I arrived I said that I wanted to close the gap on Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, these big teams.

“I think that now Chelsea have a good foundation and now good players are arriving and the level now is very, very high.”

With Ranieri presiding over so many big-money buys, it was inevitable that he would not always get it right.

The signings of Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron are widely considered to be two of his worst and Chelsea’s new boss Jose Mourinho has dispatched both players back to Italy where they have agreed season-long loan deals – Crespo at AC Milan and Veron at city-rivals Inter.

“For Veron it wasn’t easy because he had a shoulder injury and needed an operation, he started well and then had this problem at his best moment,” Ranieri said.

“When you are out for four or five months it is difficult to come back.

“With Crespo it was his first year in a new country, new culture, new football. I am happy because he is a goal-scorer and for the minutes that he played he scored a lot of goals.

“I am sure that with another year he could have proved a lot more. But I also understand that he also wanted to go back to Italy and when I was the coach at Chelsea he wanted to go back.”

Mourinho arrived from Porto with a big reputation having delivered the UEFA Cup and Champions League in successive seasons.

And Ranieri has backed his successor to deliver at Chelsea.

“He won two league titles, the UEFA Cup and the Champions League and, at this moment, Abramovich took the best,” he said.

“It is a very different task from Porto but that is normal, it was different for me going from Italy, to Spain and to England.”