Premier League: Looking Back at 2013-14's Top 4 Contenders a Decade Ago

Roman Abramovich's tenure as Chelsea owner became a decade old this week. The Russian's purchase not only changed the course of history for the Blues, but for the Premier League too.

The summer of 2003 was not only a momentous summer for Chelsea, but for a whole host of Premier League clubs as well. Notable among these were the teams who finished in the top seven of the division's recently completed 2012-13 campaign.

From champions Manchester United down to seventh-placed Liverpool, these teams look set to be among the chief contenders for silverware and Champions League places again this season.

But how did the prospects of these clubs look 10 years ago, ahead of, and into the 2003-04 Premier League season?

Arsenal

Arsenal had come up short to Manchester United in the previous season's title race. That success proved to be a temporary last hurrah for Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils.

The Gunners meanwhile, were preparing for a year that would turn out to be the apex of Arsene Wenger's first decade in charge—an unbeaten, title-winning romp.

Members of the "old guard," such as David Seaman and Lee Dixon, were still prominent members of the squad when the team were last crowned champions in 2001-02.

By summer 2003, a few from the pre-Wenger era remained. Mostly, though, it was a younger and predominantly foreign group of players who would form the team that would enjoy such a historic campaign.

This did include some who had resided in North London a while—Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires to name a few.

But there were also newer names preparing to step up their involvement, notably Kolo Toure and Gilberto Silva.

In his biggest bit of offseason business, Wenger replaced Seaman with experienced German shot-stopper Jens Lehman.

With an eye on the future, the Frenchman also secured the signings of Cesc Fabregas, Philippe Senderos and Gael Clichy.

Chelsea

Few clubs have ever undergone as massive a change as Chelsea did in the run up to 2003-04.

On the pitch, things were going fairly well. The Blues had secured qualification for the Champions League in May, and among the quality players in their squad were John Terry and Frank Lampard, two young English talents going from strength to strength.

With debts piling up, unfortunately the club's finances were not so rosy—as Mihir Bose's Daily Telegraph report from the time details.

Enter Roman Abramovich.

The Russian billionaire bought the club, rescuing Chelsea from its precarious financial state and giving them unparalleled spending power in England.

Manager Claudio Ranieri was able to cherry-pick some of the European's game best players—proven and emerging—signing the likes of Joe Cole, Damien Duff, Hernan Crespo and Claude Makelele.

The season would prove there is more to success than spending money. Despite their clear improvement, Chelsea were unable to match an established and extremely effective Arsenal side.

Though doubts remained over the exact nature of what they were in store for under their new owner, that summer was undoubtedly an exciting time.

The club that had just seen beloved icon Gianfranco Zola depart, and had been facing a questionable fiscal future, had reason to be very optimistic.

Everton

Based on his first full season in charge at Everton, the appointment of David Moyes was looking a smart one.

The Merseyside outfit's seventh-place finish in 2002-03 was only their second top-half placing of the Premier League era. The campaign also saw the introduction of a certain Wayne Rooney, with the teenager taking the Premier League by storm.

Heading into his second full season in charge at Goodison Park, Moyes would soon come to understand the challenges of achieving consistency at a club that had lacked it for so many years.

The majority of his squad were players still there from Walter Smith's time as manager. Some like Lee Carsley and David Weir—as well as youth-team products like Rooney, Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman—would become integral members of Moyes' team over the coming seasons.

Improvements that would see Everton become a regular top-half side were still a little way off. Moyes' attempts to firmly put his imprint on the team were impeded by difficulties in the transfer market—a limitation he would have to get used to at his relatively cash-strapped club.

The permanent signing of Li Tie (who had previously been on loan) was the only transfer of significance completed before the start of the season.

Nigel Martyn, Kevin Kilbane and James McFadden would join before the transfer window closed, but it was to prove a tough season for the Toffees. One that flirted uncomfortably close with the familiar threat of relegation.

Liverpool

Liverpool peaked under Gerard Houllier between 2000 and 2002.

During those two years they recorded a cup treble, then followed it up by finishing an impressive second place. It was their best league placing in over a decade, and saw them temporarily break up the Arsenal-Manchester United hegemony in the division.

The Reds' fifth place finish in 2002-03 was a comparatively disappointing return. Heading into the upcoming campaign, their prospects were intriguing to say the least.

Houllier's capture of Harry Kewell was deemed a good start.

Costing just £5 million from a then-stricken Leeds United, the Australian had developed into one of the Premier League's most exciting young players during his time in Yorkshire.

His new manager was extremely excited by the signing, telling his club's website (via a BBC Sport article from July 2003):

"

We had spoken about bringing in players who would have the fans on the edge of their seats and I can't think of a better description for the qualities that Harry will bring to Anfield.

"

As well as Kewell, experienced full-back Steve Finnan joined up, while talented young French duo Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec also arrived.

With existing stars like Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen already there, there was belief the Anfield club could push on once again.

It would prove to be Houllier's last campaign. Progress was minimal, but in finishing fourth they would qualify for the Champions League, setting things up ever so nicely for the manager's successor.

Manchester City

Of all the clubs featured in this article, Manchester City have undoubtedly undergone the most change in 10 years.

Back in 2003, Kevin Keegan's city were coming off an impressive ninth-place finish in their first season back in the top flight.

Seeing as they were moving into a new home, the City of Manchester Stadium (previously used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games), maintaining their Premier League status was imperative—if nothing else, for image reasons.

Even without the financial backing that Thaksin Shinawatra and Sheikh Mansour would later provide, the club were not shy in spending money in their attempts to stick around.

Big-name signings like Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler had arrived the previous season. Joining them that summer were Premier League veterans David Seaman, Trevor Sinclair and Steve McManaman.

Keegan also added to his squad's foreign contingent, bringing in Michael Tarnat, Antoine Sibierski, Paul Bosvelt and Claudio Reyna.

There would be some relative successes among these, but the hope that the squad being assembled would really take the club forward did not come to fruition.

By the standard set the previous season, 2003-04 would be rather underwhelming.

Anelka and other existing players like Sylvain Distin, Richard Dunne and Shaun Wright-Phillips were among City's brighter performers. They provided a sense of consistency that not only kept them up then, but would prove to be extremely important in laying the groundwork for events still years away.

Manchester United

A decade ago, the notion that Sir Alex Ferguson would be leaving Manchester United any time soon seemed to have passed. Plans for retirement had been shelved, and instead, Ferguson prepared for the future of his team.

For the first time in a while, these did not include David Beckham. For Ferguson, the England captain's celebrity status had impinged too far on his day job, and he was sold to Real Madrid.

Although a blow to the team's quality in the short term, it helped make room for a player who would go on to reach even greater individual heights in Man United's next great team.

Cristiano Ronaldo was among a group of young arrivals at Old Trafford in summer 2003. Expectations were also high for David Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Tim Howard and Kleberson—all signed with the intention they could become natural successors to some of United's existing stars.

After winning the title in 2002-03, further success (save for winning that year's FA Cup) would elude them for some time.

United undergoing a transitional period could not have come at a more inopportune point. Arsenal were about to reach a glorious peak under Arsene Wenger's management, while Chelsea were gearing up to blow them both out of the water.

A further glimpse into their immediate future came in the Champions League the following spring, with a certain young Portuguese manager making himself known on the Old Trafford sideline.

The transition would be a painful, occasionally acrimonious process, but given what Ronaldo and others went on to do for the club, a necessary one.

Tottenham Hotspur

Except for their goal difference and eventual league finishes, Tottenham Hotspur's league record under Glenn Hoddle in 2001-02 and 2002-03 was identical.

In each, Spurs won 14, drew eight, lost 16 and finished on 50 points. The latter season saw them drop one place to finish 10th.

Progress was the order of the day for Hoddle in summer 2003. With that in mind, he sold or released several first-team players including Matthew Etherington, Steffen Freund, Steffen Iversen and Teddy Sheringham.

Hoddle had deemed his strike force the area most in need of revitalization, so in came young hotshots Helder Postiga and Bobby Zamora, as well as the skillful Frederic Kanoute.

On paper, along with last season's star signing, Robbie Keane, Spurs had goals in abundance. Hoddle's gamble that this would make the difference to his team would not pay off, with problems elsewhere running far deeper.

One of the club's greatest ever players, Hoddle's two-and-a-bit years as manager were steady enough. Had he been kept on beyond their slow start to 2003-04, who knows what he might have done at Spurs.

His chairman, Daniel Levy, was not willing to wait, sacking Hoddle in September after a slow start to the season.

In a statement on his club's website, taken here from BBC Sport, Levy described "the current lack of progress and any visible sign of improvement" as "unacceptable", citing a lack of confidence in Hoddle "to deliver success to the club."

As disappointing a conclusion to Hoddle's reign as it was, the decision marked the beginning of a period that would transform Tottenham into the Top Four contenders they have since become.