8: Yuri Zhirkov
When the Russian left back arrived at Stamford Bridge in July 2009 from CSKA Moscow for a whopping fee of £18m, the defender became the most expensive player in his country’s history.
The problem for Zhirkov, however, was that England international Ashley Cole was blocking his path to the first team, meaning that after less than 30 top-flight appearances in his first two campaigns at Chelsea, the full back was then sold to Anzhi Makhachkala for just £13.2m.
7: Juan Sebastian Veron
There was great excitement at the Bridge when the hugely talented Argentina international was somehow managed to be lured from arch-rivals Manchester United in the summer of 20003 for £15m, and hopes were high after the midfield player scored on his debut in a 2-1 win at Liverpool on the opening day of the 2003/04 Premier League season.
But that turned out to be the high point though of Veron’s four-year stay in west London and in 2007 the playmaker returned home to play for Estudiantes.