Stamford Bridge is used to quick transformations and quick returns — nine of the 14 managers who have lifted silverware in the club’s 113-year history won a trophy in their first season in charge — but Maurizio Sarri’s turnaround this season has raised more eyebrows than most.

The Italian has guided his team to five wins in five games to be top of the table going into this weekend, ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s much-vaunted Liverpool side and ahead of champions Manchester City who finished 30 points above the Blues last season.

Few bookmakers gave Chelsea much chance of title success in 2018-19 given the off-field traumas of the last campaign in which Antonio Conte waged a year-long war against his club’s owners and seemingly lost the confidence of his own players as he persisted with a defensive style which stifled star men such as Eden Hazard.

But the transformation has been remarkable. Now playing vibrant attacking football, and with Hazard in top form, Chelsea go to West Ham on Sunday with a feeling that almost anything is possible.

Perhaps we should have had more faith in the Chelsea model. After all, the now maligned Conte performed a similar miracle in his first season in charge, taking a side which looked demoralised after finishing eighth under Jose Mourinho (who was sacked mid-campaign) to become champions a year later.

Looking back through history, it’s a repetitive theme at the Bridge, where Carlo Ancelotti won the double in his first season and Jose Mourinho a Premier League title in his debut campaign too. Even the likes of Rafa Benitez managed a Europa League trophy during a controversial temporary spell in charge — while Roberto Di Matteo went one better with a Champions League and Gianluca Vialli, appointed in February 1998, took only three months to win two trophies.

The only other thing those managers have in common is that they didn’t stay in post for long; but Sarri’s early popularity in west London and his relaxed relationship with the board is providing hope that Chelsea have finally found a manager they can hang on to.

Given that Conte spent an entire season in dispute with the board over a lack of transfers, and began 2017-18 by sacking Diego Costa by text, you can see why Sarri’s arrival is a breath of fresh air — and not just because of his attacking style on the pitch.

It’s early days, of course. But it’s hard to visualise the former Napoli man involved in a war of words with Mourinho, as Conte was when he exchanged insults last season, calling the Manchester United manager a ‘little man’.

So although Sarri has already warned against over-expectation, the fact that Chelsea have started so well is creating a feelgood factor at the Bridge where his attacking style of football is appreciated.

The new 4-3-3 formation, with Jorginho at the helm and Hazard as the focus, looks fluid and designed to excite, with even N’Golo Kante given licence to roam forward; and Sarri is not a man to rest on his laurels.

“I’m very happy with 15 points in five matches, but I always think we can do more,” he said. “We can improve.”

What Chelsea want to know is whether their new manager can follow in the footsteps of so many others by winning a trophy in his first season, especially if that silverware came in the Premier League.

“I think now for us it’s better to think only of the next match,” the Italian said.

“Because the gap at the beginning was 30 points to Manchester City. I think it’s very difficult to cover this gap in only one season.”

Right now, however, with six wins in a row including Thursday’s Europa League victory in Greece, you wouldn’t entirely rule it out — and history is on Chelsea’s side.

Expert view: ‘He treats his players like adults’

Simon Johnson is Chelsea correspondent for the London Evening Standard and has covered the club for 10 years, through good times and bad. Here he gives his low-down on the secrets behind Maurizio Sarri’s transformation of a Chelsea team which struggled so badly last season but now sits top of the table.

It seems like there has been another miracle at Stamford Bridge. What has Maurizio Sarri done to turn things around?

“I’d say the biggest thing he’s done is to not be Antonio Conte.

“Conte had upset so many people at the club from the top down, including their star player because it certainly looked like Eden Hazard was on his way until the change in management. The whole atmosphere has changed since Conte left.”

But Conte seemed so popular with Chelsea fans and had such a remarkable first season, winning the title. What went wrong?

“It was about personality as much as anything else. He was so intense, I think people found it difficult in the end – and there were questions marks over the style of play, too. Probably the low point was the away game at Manchester City in May last season when Chelsea didn’t even attempt to attack. They sat behind the ball and sent long balls up to Hazard playing as a false nine. When Hazard said that day ‘We could have played for three hours and I wouldn’t have touched the ball’, it was particularly telling.”

How is Sarri different and what has he changed?

“For a start the players love his style of play, which is all about attacking instead of the obsession with defence under Conte. That appeals to the squad and especially to Hazard.

“There’s an excitement around the place, on the pitch and in the stands, and as Willian said to us the other day he’s finding it ‘fun’. It’s a long time since Chelsea has been fun — you’d probably have to go back to Carlo Ancelotti who was a fantastic man manager and very popular with the players.”

So, it’s not all about the formation as we’re led to believe?

“Well, obviously the change in formation, which is designed to get the best out of Hazard, is important too. But the feel about the place is just as important. It’s easy to be happy after five wins in a row of course, that helps. But it’s little things off the pitch which make a difference, too. Sarri has relaxed the rules around diet, for instance, which were so strict under Conte.

“He treats players like adults. When Hazard came back from the World Cup he asked for two extra days to spend with family and Sarri was happy to do that. He just seems to be a manager who understands his players.”

The big question, of course, is can it last?

“I think we’ll find out pretty soon because you cannot say everything is perfect. Sarri still doesn’t have a prolific centre-forward, and that’s something which cannot be fixed short-term. There are problems in defence too — Arsenal showed that with a 15-minute spell at Stamford Bridge in which they could have scored five or six goals. So, the two games coming up soon against Liverpool in the space of a week, one in the Carabao Cup and one in the Premier League, will tell us a lot.”

Five wins in five games and already Chelsea fans are talking about a possible title run. Is that feasible?

“On balance you’d have to say ‘no’. Without a top-quality centre-forward and with issues to resolve in defence it’s hard to see Chelsea challenging the big two of Man City and Liverpool. I think their more realistic aim will be the top four, especially with the likes of Tottenham, United and Arsenal all dropping points already this season.

“Don’t forget Sarri hasn’t had much time to coach the players in the way he wants to play. He arrived quite late, there were players on holiday after the World Cup and he inherited a pre-season schedule that was not to his liking. So, it may take a while. But it’s been a very good start and I think Chelsea fans are going to enjoy it.”