Grant – I would have won the league with more time

Avram Grant insists Chelsea would have won the Premier League if he had been in charge from the start of the season.

Grant was sacked on Saturday after just eight months in charge as the Israeli paid the price for Chelsea's first campaign without silverware for four years.

But Grant is convinced he would have been able to overhaul Manchester United if he had taken over from Jose Mourinho sooner.

By the time he replaced Mourinho last September, Chelsea were already lagging behind the leaders in fifth place.

The Blues pushed United all the way down to the wire before eventually missing out on the title on the last day and then losing the Champions League final to Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

“I tell you this: If Chelsea had played at the beginning of the season like they did at the end then they would definitely have been champions of England ahead of Man United,” Grant told the Sun.

“Over the last three months of the season with me working as manager, we were never called boring Chelsea.

“No-one expected Chelsea to win things because when I took over, the team were fifth and had just been held to a Champions League draw by Rosenborg.

“No-one believed we would have finished second and reached the Champions League final in Moscow.”