{"id":651,"date":"2024-02-07T19:58:43","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T19:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfcbetting.co.uk\/?p=651"},"modified":"2024-02-07T20:00:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T20:00:48","slug":"have-any-of-chelseas-big-money-signings-paid-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfcbetting.co.uk\/have-any-of-chelseas-big-money-signings-paid-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Have Any of Chelsea’s Big Money Signings Paid Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich, got his hands on Chelsea FC back in 2003, the Blues haven\u2019t been shy when it comes to splashing the cash in the transfer market. If anything, Chelsea became even bigger spenders after the consortium led by Todd Boehly purchased the club in 2022. But the question we\u2019re posing here is how many (if indeed any!) of Chelsea\u2019s biggest signings have proved money well spent?<\/p>\n

Chelsea Most Expensive Signings<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start by running through the club\u2019s signings with the highest price tags. Note that due to the nature of football transfer deals (that often include various add-ons), the figures given will be based on the initially reported fees, and all will be quoted in Euros, for consistency. Also, for the purposes of this article, we\u2019ll define a big money transfer as one that commanded a (reported) fee of \u20ac60m or more.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Player<\/th>\nFrom<\/th>\nFee<\/th>\nYear<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1. Enzo Fernandez<\/td>\nBenfica<\/td>\n\u20ac121m<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2. Moises Caicedo<\/td>\nBrighton & Hove Albion<\/td>\n\u20ac116m<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3. Romelu Lukaku<\/td>\nInter Milan<\/td>\n\u20ac113m<\/td>\n2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4. Wesley Fofana<\/td>\nLeicester City<\/td>\n\u20ac80.4m<\/td>\n2022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5. Kepa Arrizabalaga<\/td>\nAthletic Bilbao<\/td>\n\u20ac80m<\/td>\n2018<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5. Kai Havertz<\/td>\nBayer Leverkusen<\/td>\n\u20ac80m<\/td>\n2020<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7. Mykhailo Mudryk<\/td>\nShakhtar Donetsk<\/td>\n\u20ac70m<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8. Alvaro Morata<\/td>\nReal Madrid<\/td>\n\u20ac66m<\/td>\n2017<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9. Marc Cucurella<\/td>\nBrighton & Hove Albion<\/td>\n\u20ac65.3m<\/td>\n2022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10. Christian Pulisic<\/td>\nBorussia Dortmund<\/td>\n\u20ac64m<\/td>\n2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11. Rom\u00e9o Lavia<\/td>\nSouthampton<\/td>\n\u20ac62.10m<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12. Christopher Nkunku<\/td>\nRB Leipzig<\/td>\n\u20ac60m<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The Successes \u2013 Money Well Spent<\/h2>\n
\"Christian
Christian Pulisic (sportsphotographer.eu | Bigstockphoto.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s sometimes hard to quantify success in football and whether a player has \u201cpaid back\u201d their transfer fee. But here are the big-money signings who we think, on balance, could be viewed as successful. Of course, they\u2019re not in the same league as signings like those of Didier Drogba for less than \u20ac40m or Petr Cech for just \u20ac13m. But let\u2019s say these are the best of a rather bad bunch.<\/p>\n

Kai Havertz – \u20ac80m, Scored Winning Goal in Champions League Final<\/h3>\n

Havertz might be something of a surprising choice given that he scored only four, eight and seven Premier League goals respectively in his three seasons at Chelsea. But the German delivered the goods when it really, really mattered as he scored the only goal in the 2021 Champions League final to allow Chelsea to beat Manchester City and grab the glory. Given that he was sold to Arsenal for the lion\u2019s share of what the Blues had paid for him, we feel, all things considered, the Havertz signing could be viewed as having been successful.<\/p>\n

Christian Pulisic – \u20ac64m, 26 Goals in 145 Appearances<\/h3>\n

Also an integral part of the Champions League-winning side of 2020\/21 (although he only came on as a substitute in the second half of the final), Pulisic had four seasons at Chelsea and proved himself to be an important and consistent performer. Always assured and a real battler (even when some of his teammates weren\u2019t quite up for it), he was sold to AC Milan for around a third of Chelsea\u2019s initial outlay, which wasn\u2019t a disaster.<\/p>\n

The Flops \u2013 Money Frittered Away<\/h2>\n
\"Alvaro
Alvaro Morata (canno73 | Bigstockphoto.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Okay, it might be a little unfair to call any player who plies his trade in the best league in the world a \u201cflop\u201d, but these things are all relative. Given that these particular players were purchased for tens of millions of pounds, the expectation levels are going to be justifiably high. And frankly, they failed to deliver the goods.<\/p>\n

Romelu Lukaku – \u20ac113m, 15 Goals in 44 Games<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that when you spend over \u20ac100m on a striker, you need them to score a few goals. And to be fair to Lukaku, he did exactly that\u2026 but only a few. His return of eight goals in 26 Premier League appearances for the Blues (in what was his second spell at the club) was hardly earth-shattering. This is especially the case given he\u2019d scored 24 Serie A goals in 2020\/21 and 23 the season before.<\/p>\n

In his defence, the Belgian international has never been quite as prolific as some top strikers, and he\u2019s only breached the 20-goal mark once in a Premier League season (for Everton back in 2016\/17). He\u2019s still on the Chelsea books and currently on loan with Roma. But given he\u2019ll be almost 31 at the end of the current season, it\u2019s unlikely the Blues will recoup much of their outlay if they were to sell, and he doesn\u2019t seem in the mood to give it another go with Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Alvaro Morata – \u20ac66m, 24 Goals in 72 Games<\/h3>\n

With a similarly bad strike rate as Lukaku, former Real Madrid and Juventus man Morata really didn\u2019t do well at Chelsea. After scoring 11 league goals in 31 matches in 2017\/18 and five in 16 in 2018\/19, he was loaned out to Atletico Madrid, then Juventus. At both clubs, he maintained a similarly poor scoring rate and was eventually sold to Atletico for a fee of around \u20ac35m before then being loaned back to Juve. So at least Chelsea got some money back, but the signing of Morata certainly goes down as a flop.<\/p>\n

Marc Cucurella – \u20ac65.3m, 33 Premier League Appearances, No Goals<\/h3>\n

As a defender, Cucurella wasn\u2019t bought to score goals, but for that price tag, he was certainly meant to be a regular starter for the Blues. Although there\u2019s a chance he could turn things around, it appears he\u2019s not Pochettino\u2019s first choice and if he doesn\u2019t break into the first team more regularly he might well be on his way in the summer.<\/p>\n

The Jury\u2019s Out \u2013 Time Will Tell<\/h2>\n
\"Enzo
Enzo Fernandez (Tasnim News Agency<\/a> | Wikipedia.org)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s too early to say whether the following players will prove money well spent or cash down the drain.<\/p>\n