Every club has made their mistakes when it comes to entering the transfer market, and here we take a look at the ten worst buys that the west Londoners have made during the Premier League era …
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10: Tal Ben Haim
Bought from Bolton Wanderers in July 2007 on a lucrative Bosman-style free transfer by head coach Jose Mourinho to help add competition for places in the Blues back four, the experienced Israel international never really settled at Stamford Bridge, featuring in only 13 Premier League matches for the club before being sold to Manchester City for £5 million the following summer.
9: Mateja Kezman
The Serbia and Montenegro international was one of Jose Mourinho’s first signings when the Portuguese took over at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004, arriving from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven with a huge reputation as being one of European football’s deadliest front men at that time.
However, a year later Kezman was on his way to La Liga outfit Atletico de Madrid in a deal worth £5.3m after struggling badly for form in front of goal, with the striker managing to score just four goals in his 25 Premier League outings in the capital.
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.
6: Scott Parker
Signed by boss Claudio Ranieri in January 2004 for £10m after a protracted and much-publicised transfer wrangle between the Blues and London rivals Charlton Athletic, Chelsea fans were then left wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place.
And following the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge to replace Ranieri that summer, the English defensive midfield player then spent the majority of the next campaign warming the substitutes’ bench, before being sold to Newcastle United for just £6.5m in July 2005.
5: Alexei Smertin
Another player who arrived at Chelsea in the immediate aftermath of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich buying the Blues in the summer of 2003, with the holding midfield player being bought from Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux that August for £3.45m.
However, the Russia international was immediately sent to fellow Premier League side Portsmouth on a season-long loan, and then again to Charlton for the entire 2005-06 campaign, before Dynamo Moscow bought him in 2006 after having played in only 16 Premier League matches for the club.
4: Shaun Wright-Phillips
The in-demand England international arrived at Chelsea from Manchester City in the summer of 2005 for an eyebrow-raising fee of £21m, and it is fair to say that the wide man never truly managed to live up to his hefty price tag during his time at the Bridge.
SWP, the step son of former Arsenal legend Ian Wright, was given plenty of opportunities to display his talents on the wing in west London, however, after three years of a stop-start career with the Blues, the Englishman eventually re-joined City in August 2008 for only £8.5m.
3: Steve Sidwell
Another Bosman-free disaster by manager Jose Mourinho, with the Englishman being signed from Reading in July 2007 in what was one of the self-styled ‘Special One’s’ final-ever pieces of transfer business during his first spell in charge of the Blues.
But, after just 15 Premier League outings and no goals, the midfield player was then sold to Aston Villa for £5m the next summer.
2: Andriy Shevchenko
After years of trying to lure the brilliant and prolific Ukraine striker from AC Milan to Stamford Bridge, finally the Rossoneri agreed to sell the Blues the world’s most sought-after attacker in the summer of 2006 for a whopping £30.8m, with many experts immediately predicting a period of utter domination by Chelsea following Sheva’s signing.
However, things did not work out quite as everyone had thought they would as the front man struggled badly for both fitness and form in front of goal, and after just nine Premier League goals in his first two seasons at the club, Shevchenko was then loaned back to Milan in the summer of 2008, before then joining his former club Dynamo Kyiv the following year.
1: Adrian Mutu
Yet another in a long line of centre forwards who failed to make the grade at Chelsea following the arrival of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich as the club’s new owner in the summer of 2003, with the Romania international being signed from Serie A outfit Parma that August for £15.8m.
But after the striker had failed a drugs test for cocaine in September 2004, his career at Stamford Bridge was over and Mutu never played for the club again, signing for Juventus in January 2005.
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