One could argue that many high-profile signings at Chelsea have gone under the radar, given the club's ability to spend a high amount of money on many players Few have lived up to their potential, while others have outrightly flopped at Stamford Bridge despite arriving with a lot of promise Timo Werner is not included despite his struggles in front of goal, given that he played a crucial role in Chelsea's runup to the Champions League triumph in 2021.
Ross Barkley's exit from Chelsea marked the latest star to leave the London-based club, The club has been well run since Roman Abramovich in terms of finances took over in 2003. The Russian sold the club to a consortium owned by American Todd Boehly this summer. He may have achieved a lot of success during his time as owner, but there are a couple of transfers that didn't work out as originally planned.
1. Romelu Lukaku The Belgian was actually signed twice. First, in 2011, he was shipped out on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Everton before being sold. Chelsea then made him their record signing in 2021, where it failed to work out again. He is currently at Inter Milan on loan.
2. Alvaro Morata The Blues have been quite unlucky when it comes to strikers. It can be argued that the last proper striker Chelsea had was Diego Costa. Antonio Conte, then head coach, thought he could replace Costa with Alvaro Morata in 2017. Despite starting off brightly, the Spaniard faded off before being taken out on loan to Atletico Madrid, where he eventually sealed a permanent move.
3. Danny Drinkwater Anyone who watched Danny Drinkwater's partnership with N'Golo Kante during Leicester City's fairytale run to the Premier League title in 2016 could have thought that that was about to be replicated in West London. It was, however, not meant to be as Drinkwater only made 12 appearances for Chelsea. He later admitted that it was a business move gone wrong.
4. Tiémoué Bakayoko Another midfielder. After lighting up the Champions League and the French Ligue 1 in 2016, Chelsea signed the Frenchman with the hopes that he will replicate his stellar performances with Monaco. Bakayoko ended up as a flop with no meaningful Chelsea contributions. He is still a Chelsea player on loan to AC Milan
5. Ross Barkley Like Bakayoko and Drinkwater, Barkley was also a midfield dynamo at his former workstation- Everton. But many Chelsea fans will remember him for missing the penalty against Valencia in the Champions League group stages rather than the rocket of a goal he scored against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
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