All good things must come to an end. For Eidur Gudjohnsen at Chelsea Football Club, 2006 was that year.

The Icelandic attacker packed plenty into his six seasons at Stamford Bridge. He arrived in the summer of 2000 from second-tier Bolton Wanderers as an exciting young talent. He was only 21, but his link-up play and finishing ability could not be ignored.

Before long, he had edged ahead of Gianfranco Zola in the pecking order and established an all-time great Chelsea strike partnership with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

That trio all played a significant role in our qualification for the Champions League in 2003, staving off financial fears and heralding a new era at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich's ownership.

Plenty of world-class fresh faces came through the door, but Gudjohnsen was one of the existing group – along with William Gallas, John Terry and Frank Lampard – who rose to the challenge of increased competition and took his game to a new level under the management of Jose Mourinho.

Gudjohnsen was a central figure in the club’s first title triumph in 50 years, but by the following season, 2005/06, playing time proved harder to come by. He started just 16 of our 38 Premier League matches, fewer than in any previous season. The end was nigh.

‘I felt early doors that it would probably be my last season at Chelsea,’ Gudjohnsen told us earlier this month. ‘I didn't know where I was going or where I would end up; it was just a feeling. I hadn't played as many games as I would have liked and I had some injuries.

‘It was just a stop-start season for me, so I had a conversation with Jose that it would probably be my last season, and we sort of agreed on that. We had a great time together.’

It brought an end to an outstanding Chelsea career which, as the finale approached, deservedly yielded tangible success.

Gudjohnsen feels that the arrival of Abramovich and then Mourinho in consecutive summers helped Chelsea take the ‘small step to becoming actual title contenders’ from the nearly men of so many recent seasons past. Silverware duly followed.

The influx of new talent had a dual effect on those already at the club, according to Gudjohnsen. Competition for places got them on their toes, first and foremost, but it also strengthened their bond with Chelsea. ‘When we walked on the pitch, we loved the club and wanted to fight for our club,’ Gudjohnsen says.

Add in the management of the mercurial Mourinho, and the winning formula had been found.

‘I remember one of the first things he said to us: "Guys, I'm looking at you as individuals at Chelsea, and I don't see any trophies behind your names. That's got to change". We were like, "Yeah, you're right." I mean, it was my fourth season here without winning anything apart from the Charity Shield in my first year.

‘We had the players. We had the core. Several players were at a similar age: me, Frank, Didier [Drogba] were the same age. The core of the team was there. We had the right manager coming in at the right time. The players that were signed previously, the ones who stayed, grew stronger. So it was all about timing, and it just clicked.'

It was in the final few months of Mourinho’s maiden season in charge that Gudjohnsen was initially deployed in midfield, first as a substitute when we successfully turned a deficit into a lead to win the 2005 Carling Cup, and then, perhaps most memorably, in the titanic 4-2 victory over Barcelona at Stamford Bridge a few weeks later. Gudjohnsen advanced from his deeper role to score our opening goal on that most special of nights.

Ahead of the 2005/06 season, Hernan Crespo and Carlton Cole returned to the Bridge from loan spells. With Mourinho’s 4-3-3 shape using pacy wingers on either side of a centre-forward, there were fewer opportunities for Gudjohnsen to lead the line.

So, using his Premier League experience and the guile and sharp movement that had always defined him as a player – as well as learning off his team-mates – Gudjohnsen operated more often in the centre of the park. Mourinho even referred to him as the ‘Blond Maradona’ after a win at Upton Park in January 2006.

‘It got all the headlines!’ laughs Gudjohnsen. ‘I think it was exaggerated but as soon as Jose says something, it makes headlines. I certainly wasn't looking for that nickname. It's not an easy nickname to carry! But I loved playing in midfield.

‘It's a different mindset. I had to learn the defensive positioning a bit because, throughout my whole career, I was looking at the opposition goal rather than running towards my own. I remember playing there against Barcelona in 04/05, and I don’t think I’ve ever run as much in my entire career.

‘But we had [Claude] Makelele behind Frank and myself. And when you have Makelele there, he just guides you. He controls you almost like on the PlayStation. He just tells you where to go, and you go there. That helped a lot. It made me adapt very quickly.

‘The midfielders in front of Makelele had the freedom to get themselves into the box, which I enjoyed. We all know about Frank scoring, and all of a sudden, from being the frontman, I was looking at Frank and thinking, if he is getting himself in the box, I have to maybe keep position a little bit more.

'We all knew Frank loved to get forward, so I would just look at Makelele at times and he would give me the nod to get up the pitch as well.'

Chelsea were relentless, starting the season with nine consecutive league victories from which we never looked back.

‘Getting over the line the season before, getting a taste of what it feels like to be regarded as a champion, that was a feeling we wanted to relive,’ recalls Gudjohnsen. ‘We also knew what it took, the demands you need to meet on a day-to-day basis over ten months in a season.'

The title was secured with a couple of games to spare, but for Gudjohnsen, unavailable for the title-clinching humbling of nearest challengers Manchester United, the feeling was bittersweet. The final paragraphs of a significant chapter in his career were being written. A move to Barcelona beckoned.

‘I remember watching the Man United game, the day we won the title, from the stands, as I was ill or injured. I knew I would be going, but I hadn’t said anything to anyone. After that game, it felt like I was really saying my goodbyes to a lot of people.

‘It was tough as I was leaving the club I loved most in my career. But then, I ended up having the chance to play for the club of my dreams, which was Barcelona. I was just fortunate to have played for what, for me, are the two best clubs in the world.’

And as any Chelsea fan of that vintage will tell you, how fortunate we are to have watched Gudjohnsen in blue.