Our resident Blues fans have seen a huge number of players come and go in the Abramovich era, with the Russian bankrolling the club to levels never seen before in this country.
The Blues stole a march on many of their rivals with the use of foreign money as they turned themselves into a powerhouse of the modern game with signings like Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba and, more recently, Diego Costa all highlighting their financial muscle.
Those signings were are successes but that hasn’t always been the case for Chelsea.
Sometimes the money has gone to waste and our landlord recalls these four times, in particular, it went wrong for the club…
Fernando Torres
One of the most famous transfer sagas in recent memory and also one of the biggest flops.
Torres signed in a massive deal both financially and in terms of club rivalry as he switched the red of Liverpool for the blue of Chelsea.
He’d shown signs that he was past his best for the Reds earlier in that season but Chelsea took a gamble that they could him back to his best. They couldn’t.
Andriy Shevchenko
Shevchenko arrived at Stamford Bridge for big money and with a reputation for being one of the most feared strikers in Europe – sound familiar?
Like Torres, though, Shevchenko appeared to have already enjoyed his best days before signing in west London and soon found himself out of the side.
A true great in his prime, the Ukrainian just couldn’t produce it for the Blues.
Adrian Mutu
Mutu promised great things but a number of controversies around him whilst he was at Chelsea soon ensured he was out of the club.
The Romanian couldn’t cut it in the Premier League and soon found himself on his way.
From thereon he’s tried to make a career for himself but has only done so to a pretty limited extent.
Mateja Kezman
Kezman was able to shoot from either foot and came with a big reputation from the Netherlands for scoring goals – but he just couldn’t get the knack of things in the Premier League.
He soon saw his place taken by a certain Didier Drogba and he took the league by storm whilst Kezman was soon shipped out of Stamford Bridge.
