Mykhaylo Mudryk said hello to his new home and fans as Chelsea completed the signing of the Ukrainian on Sunday to make him second most expensive signing in the club’s history.
Few clubs in the history of football can claim to have spent as much money as Chelsea has during the past 20 years.
The club’s rise to prominence in European football after its previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, acquired it in 2003 was largely a result of the billions that were put into the playing staff.
Todd Boehly, Abramovich’s successor, carried on the huge spending by blowing about £250 million in the summer of 2022.
Listed below are Chelsea’s largest transactions to date, measured by their value in pounds at the time they were reached.
Who are Chelsea’s most expensive transfers to date?
Romelu Lukaku – £97.7 million, 2021
While it might have been strange on paper for Chelsea to spend so much money on a player they had once had on their books as a young prospect, the club made a statement by bringing in Romelu Lukaku in the summer of 2021.
Lukaku returns to English football as one of the top strikers in the world and with a fresh goal to prove after dominating Italian football with 64 goals in 95 games over the course of two seasons at Inter Milan and aiding the club win their first Serie A title in ten years.
He scored on the road against Arsenal after just 15 minutes of his second debut.
As the season progressed, Lukaku’s performances drastically declined, and he only managed to score eight Premier League goals before returning to Inter on loan.
Mykhailo Mudryk – £89.1 million , 2022
During the January 2023 transfer window, Mykhailo Mudryk became the second player in Chelsea history to leave for a fee of €100 million or more.
Mudryk was the most recent high-profile acquisition in the extraordinary 2022–23 spending season.
Although it was anticipated that the Ukrainian would sign with Arsenal, he had developed as one of the most attractive wingers in Europe in 2022.
However, Chelsea took advantage of Arsenal’s agreement to sign Mudryk to a contract that would expire in 2030.
Kai Havertz – £72 million, 2020
When Chelsea made Kai Havertz their most expensive acquisition at the time, it was not considered a risk in any way, but the sum was deemed excessive for a player only 21 years old.
Similar to Werner, Havertz struggled to settle comfortably at Stamford Bridge.
He developed in the later stages of his first season, and now that he has cemented his place in Blues history, it doesn’t really matter how well he performs for the team in the future.
He scored the game’s lone goal against Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final to send the Cup back to London, therefore Chelsea will view this transaction as excellent value.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – £71 million, 2018
Athletic Bilbao’s policy of exclusively using players from the Basque Country makes it very expensive to lure players away from the club, as Chelsea discovered while trying to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The team needed a successor for Thibaut Courtois, who was headed to Real Madrid, thus a world-record cost for a goalkeeper was agreed upon. However, things haven’t worked out as expected.
Kepa was at most okay under Sarri; he wasn’t terrible, but he was unquestionably not world-class. But in 2019–20, it was a different story.
He made just 1.7 saves per 90, the fewest of any goalkeeper with more than one appearance in the league, and he had the lowest save percentage of all the goalies in the league, allowing 47 Premier League goals.
He was consequently demoted from the team and was a costly backup in 2020–2021 and 202–2022.
Wesley Fofana – £70 million, 2022
Thomas Tuchel ultimately secured Wesley Fofana on the last day of the 2022 summer transfer window after chasing him for much of the summer.
Though Fofana became one of the most expensive center-backs in the history of the game as a result of the deal, the German was forced to spend a lot of money on the young Frenchman.
As he pressed Leicester to give him permission to leave, Fofana’s ambition to play for the club was clear as he signed a seven-year contract with the Blues.
Marc Cucurella – £62 million, 2022
Chelsea spent £62 million on Brighton winger Marc Cucurella in the first summer under Boehly, beating out interest from Man City and Barcelona in the process.
Sources incorrectly reported that the purchase was finalized, complicating the situation and forcing Brighton to issue a statement denying the rumors.
Cucurella became the most expensive wing-back in history after a deal was eventually reached for an original £55 million plus £7 million in add-ons with Blues prospect Levi Colwill joining Brighton on loan.
Alvaro Morata – £60 million, 2017
Alvaro Morata was never a dependable starter for Real Madrid, but his performance while on loan at Juventus and in his few outings for Los Blancos revealed that he was a talismanic player with keen boxing instincts.
Even though Antonio Conte publicly declared he wanted Romelu Lukaku, that pressed Abramovich’s hand, and Morata was signed.
On his Premier League debut against Burnley, the club-record signing (at the time) nearly inspired a comeback by scoring once, getting an assist, and scoring a goal that was disallowed.
In his first season, he made 30 starts across all competitions, scoring 15 goals and providing six assists. However, after scoring just five Premier League goals in his second season due to poor finishing, he was loaned to Atletico Madrid for £16 million before being acquired by them for just over £30 million as agreed.
Christian Pulisic – £57 million, 2019
Since his high-profile transfer to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund, Christian Pulisic is yet to live up to expectations as a player.
His ability to dribble, think quickly on the ball, and turn quickly have not generally translated into success on the field.
Despite ongoing transfer rumors, he is still at the club despite his mediocre performance.
Fernando Torres – £50 million, 2011
Fernando Torres scored 69 goals in three and a half seasons at Liverpool, where he was a resounding success, but he was never as successful at Chelsea.
His history of injuries and the fact that, despite scoring 18 league goals in just 1,717 minutes in 2009–10, Torres’ performance dropped off in 2010–11 should have served as a warning.
Even though Chelsea paid an English record sum for his services at the time, and despite the fact that he scored that well-known goal at the Camp Nou, he ultimately fell short of expectations.
While his 175 appearances and 45 goals and 35 assists aren’t bad (a goal contribution of around every 2.2 games), he wasn’t as good as the club had anticipated he would be. It took him nearly 1,000 minutes to score his first Chelsea goal.
Jorginho – $50 million, 2018
Jorginho moved to Chelsea in 2018 after leaving Napoli and following Maurizio Sarri.
The Brazilian-born Italian international was a key component of Sarri’s wildly successful squad at Naples, where he served as their primary deep-lying playmaker.
In his time at Chelsea, Jorginho has successfully weathered storms, regaining his spot in the starting lineup after being demoted to the role of a substitute.
