Worst transfers in Chelsea’s history: Shevchenko dared even Lukaku. But neither is the Blues’ biggest tragedy

Fourfourtwo has ranked the worst signings in the history of top English clubs. The total list of Chelsea has 35 names. But let’s take a look at the worst five.

5. Andriy Shevchenko

The Ukrainian cannonballer headed to Stamford Bridge from AC Milan for just under €44 million. Fans and owner Roman Abramovich were expecting big things from him. He was, after all, the 2004 Ballon d’Or winner and one of the best spearhead strikers we could find at the time. However, his move to the Premier League didn’t work out at all.

He only spent 2 seasons in the Chelsea squad, during which he played 77 games and notched 22 goals and 12 assists. Just to give you an idea, in his last season before moving to England, he scored 28 goals and added 10 assists. After the aforementioned 2 years, he moved back to AC on loan, where he scored only 2 goals per season.

4. Kalidou Koulibaly

The Senegalese stopper was one of the mainstays of Napoli for many years and ranked among the best defenders in the world. The Italian club resisted offers until last summer, when they accepted a €38 million offer from Chelsea. However, his performances at Stamford Bridge were not ideal and his time in England was short-lived.

Koulibaly often made mistakes and struggled to keep up with the high tempo of the Premier League. Moreover, he played only 9 minutes from mid-April to the end of the season due to injury. Thus, in the summer, the Senegalese was one of the players who did not survive the squad rebuilding, packed his things and left for Saudi Arabia.

3. Romelu Lukaku

The Belgian striker cannot be missing from the list of the worst transfers in Chelsea’s history. He even transferred to the London team twice and to be honest, neither time was it the right fit. During his second stint, he even cost more than 100 million euros and only spent a season in the squad. During that season he scored 15 goals and 2 assists. He then went on loan to Inter and is currently at AS Roma.

During his first spell at Chelsea, Lukaku managed only one full season. At a young age, he hit 23 games in which he scored 9 goals and 2 assists. Thus, compared to his last stint with the Blues, he scored only 6 fewer goals, and in a different number of games.

2. Winston Bogarde

The Dutch stopper signed for Chelsea in 2000 as a free agent and became one of the most famous footballers to sit on the bench. He spent 4 years at the club and how many games did he feature in? Only 12 and his minutes are 548 minutes. That’s an average of just over 100 minutes per season. He’s earning a salary of £40,000 every week.

1. Danny Drinkwater

The English midfielder was instrumental in Leicester City’s historic triumph in the Premier League. After another season in which the Foxes played in the Champions League, Drinkwater was bought by Chelsea for 38 million euros. The Englishman signed a 5-year contract in London until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Thus, he played only 23 games for Chelsea, in which he scored a single goal. That’s not exactly significant, but it reflects his contribution to the team. The imaginary highlight of his Chelsea career could be the moment when Drinkwater played for the U23 team in 2020 and was sent off after kicking a 16-year-old Tottenham player.

Source: fourfourtwo, Premier League, Chelsea