Who makes the list of the Blues 20 biggest transfer flops?
Chelsea’s transfer policy has been pretty impressive in recent years, with the club cashing in on big names and buying young talent, but that wasn’t always the case.
In previous years the Blues made a name for themselves as a club who spent huge sums of money on disastrous signings. Here are 20 of the worst culprits…
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Adrian Mutu
Started brightly after a £15.8m move with four goals in three games, but his form declined rapidly and Chelsea were relieved to cancel his contract after he was caught taking cocaine.
Alexei Smertin
Struggled after his £3.45m move and was loaned out repeatedly before moving back to Russia.
Andrei Shevchenko
The proto-Torres, the £30m signing from Milan never looked half the player he had done just a few months before the move.
José Bosingwa
Cost £16m but never looked better than Paolo Ferreira, the man he was bought to replace.
Hernan Crespo
Had some good games and some bad games but certainly didn’t live up to his potential, or his £16.8m fee.
Asier Del Horno
Getting sent off for a foul on young Lionel Messi is pretty much all the left-back is remembered for.
Chris Sutton
Signed for a princely sum of £10m but scored just once in 28 Premier League games.
Claudio Pizarro
The free transfer showed promise with a debut goal, but scored only one goal after that.
Yuri Zhirkov
Chelsea spent a ludicrous £18m on the Russian, who never looked to be worth more than a tenth of that, one screamer against Dinamo Moscow aside.
Yossi Benayoun
The talented Israeli had done well in spells at Liverpool but his signing at Chelsea was always an odd one, and he never recaptured the form he showed at West Ham.
Deco
Started brightly with two goals in his first two games for the Blues but quickly began to look disinterested.
Steve Sidwell
It seems odd to remember now but Sidwell was in-demand after a great season at Reading. Made only 15 appearances for the Blues.
Fernando Torres
The flop to end all flops, Chelsea spent £50m on a player who never looked like getting back to his best.
Juan Sebastian Veron
Chelsea opted to sign the Argentine midfielder despite his disappointing term at Manchester United, and he was even worse for the Blues.
Tal Ben Haim
Chelsea were very lucky that Manchester City were happy to sign Ben Haim, as nobody else was interested.
Khalid Boulahrouz
Chelsea fans still wince when they remember some of Boulahrouz’s performances, with one poor showing against Tottenham in particular coming to mind.
Marko Marin
Still owned by Chelsea but has not featured in two years, and probably never will again.
Mateja Kezman
Another striker who had a bright start before quickly fizzling out.
Scott Parker
Chelsea were accused to “ruining” Parker simply because he couldn’t displace Tiago from the first team.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Chelsea paid a ludicrous £21m for the winger, who consistently disappointed with his dreadful end product.