The London club are bankrolled by Russian Billionaire Roman Abrahimovic and have made series of influential signings that have proven monumental to the club’s trophy haul under his watch. Although, it is pertinent to note the club have also made plethora of transfers that proved to be expensive failures.
We take a look at Chelsea’s top three signings that failed to live up to their enormous price tags.
Juan Sebastian Veron
An already established player for National side, Argentina. Veron made an £28.1 million switch to Manchester United in the summer of 2001. However, the Argentine proved to be an expensive flop and was subsequently offloaded to Chelsea in the hope that his form could be ignited under the guidance of tactician Claude Ranieri.
Unsuprisingly, his form worsened and it became clear to all parties that a move away would be the best option. Veron had subsequent loan spells at Inter Milan and Estudiantes respectively, before an eventual retirement in 2014.
Adrian Mutu
Abrahimovic’s first signing at the club. Adrian Mutu arrived at the club for an estimated £15.8m from Parma in 2001.
The former Romanian international was tipped to be at the forefront of Chelsea’s assault for trophies. Sadly,his entire stay at Chelsea was shrouded in controversy.
Mutu failed a doping test and was consequently, jailed, fined £20,000 and slapped with seven month ban by the FA. A legal battle also ensued with Chelsea accusing Mutu of a breach of contract which
ultimately led to an acrimonious exit. Though Mutu regained his form thereafter, off field issues at Chelsea marred his reputation as a footballer.
Fernando Torres
Torres became the most expensive player in British football, with a £50m move to Chelsea in 2011. The Spanish international had a tremendous goalscoring record at Liverpool which triggered such enormous outlay.
Overall though, Torres was massively underwhelmed, with the striker bereft of confidence and failing to score in over 903 minutes. Although, it is fair to say the Spaniard made a host of vital contributions, notably, a goal in the dying embers of a semi-final Champions league clash against Barcelona; proving decisive in Chelsea becoming UCL winners in 2012.