Chelsea are in the middle of what has been one of if not their poorest Premier League campaigns since Roman Abramovich took control of the club.
In a season which has seen Chelsea sack the self confessed special one Jose Mourinho and top players not fulfilling their potential it has been a hard time to be a fan of the Stamford Bridge side at times this campaign.
During his time as owner of the Premier League side Abramovich has not been afraid to spend his hard earned millions on world class players that have helped bring success.
But with the world class buys there have been the ones that have just failed to work out for the club for one reason or another.
Our landlord here in The Transfer Tavern has been going through the players signed during the Abramovich and has come up with his eleven who in his opinion were mistakes when signed by the club.
Hit Abramovich below to see the 11 WORST signings under his reign!
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Scott Parker
Parker joined the club for £10 million from Charlton Athletic after an impressive spell at The Valley encouraged Chelsea to sign the midfielder.
Unfortunately for Parker the move wasn’t a success as he found himself rarely getting a game at Stamford Bridge due to the impressive form of both Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard.
Mateja Kezman
Chelsea fans were ecstatic when the club signed Kezman for a fee of £5.5 million from PSV Eindhoven.
Kezman was one of the most feared strikers in Europe after netting 105 goals in 122 appearances for PSV but found life in England a lot tougher and after netting just five goals in 25 games the club cut their losses and let the player leave for Atletico Madrid.
Marko Marin
Marin was signed by then Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo who tipped the player to be the next Arjen Robben when he signed for £7 million from Werder Bremen.
But Marin failed to live up to any expectations during his time at the club due to injury and the fact that he was not really that good a player.
Khalid Boulahrouz
Boulahrouz turned out to be one of the worst buys of Jose Mourinho’s first reign in charge at Chelsea.
The big central defender who surprisingly was given the famous Chelsea number nine shirt failed to live up to all expectations after signing from Hamburg for a fee of £9 million.
Boulharouz was on his way back to Germany the following summer when he was sold to Stuttgart for £4.5 million.
Yuri Zhirkov
Zhirkov was billed as a versatile player when he signed for Carlo Ancelotti during his tenure in charge at Stamford Bridge for £18 million.
He failed to settle at the club after failing to make his mark at left back and left wing and being predominantly left footed that was a big problem.
Juan Sebastian Veron
The talented Argentinian failed to adapt to life in England’s top flight firstly at Manchester United and then at Chelsea.
Then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri must have felt he could get more out of Veron than Sir Alex Ferguson could at Old Trafford when he paid £15 million to secure the midfielders signature.
Radamel Falcao
Even though no fee was paid by Jose Mourinho for the Colombian striker his wages are astronomical.
Signed on a season long loan during the summer from Monaco on a reported £140,000 a week deal the move surprised many, especially after a the striker failed during a similar spell at Old Trafford last season.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Wright-Phillips must be one of Roman Abramovich’s most costly mistakes.
The talented winger joined the club from Manchester City for a staggering £24 million and it’s fair to say despite a few good performances for the club he failed to live up to the hype that surrounded his signing.
He was soon sold back to Man City for £8.5 million which resulted in A loss of £15.5 million to Roman Abramovich’s bank account.
Andriy Shevchenko
Shevchenko joined Chelsea for a staggering fee of £30 million and was another of Europe’s most feared goalscorer at the time.
Again Shevchenko was one who flattered to deceive and endured a torrid time at Stamford Bridge, many believed that Chelsea paid to much for an aging striker and they were proved right up until his departure in 2009.
Adrian Mutu
Mutu signed for £15.8 million from Parma during the summer of 2003 and was an instant hit with the fans.
Despite his success he ended up being sacked by the club for cocaine abuse and that is the main reason Mutu has been added to this list.
After a court battle between Mutu and Chelsea the club were awarded £14.6 million after he signed for Juventus following a drug ban.
Fernando Torres
No surprise to find Torres among this list after signing for Chelsea from Liverpool for a British transfer record £50 million.
The move never came off for Torres who failed to show any of the form in front of goal which he had shown at Anfield and turned out to be an expensive mistake for Abramovich.
It’s fair to say that no one expected the demise in Torres form to dip so quickly and maybe the huge transfer fee weighed on his mind and affected his performances at Stamford Bridge.
