September 6 – Chelsea have spent the most of any team in world football for the third straight transfer window and enter the Premier League season with a completely new-look squad. They have shipped out 11 superstar names and brought in 10 fresh faces, some of them very fresh.
The club’s aggregate transfer spend across the three windows since the club’s takeover by the Todd Boelhly has almost reached the £1 billion mark, a stunning amount of money and topped by the breaking of the British transfer record for 21-year-old Ecuadorean midfielder Moises Caicedo in a deal worth €116 million.
With many of Chelsea’s player deals amortised over seven years, the €464 million spend has avoided breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules, but with the European governing body cracking down on the length of time that deals can be amortised, the club will struggle to hit the same spending highs in future windows
For Chelsea there is also the added the necessity that the new, not-so-familiar names. have to perform. They are out of financial wriggle room.
So far, new signings Axel Disasi and Nicholas Jackson have been particularly impressive for West London club, with many of the higher-profile signings yet to play or struggling to adapt to the blues’ style of play under new manager Mauirico Pochetino.
Chelsea’s incoming:
Moises Caicedo (€116m)
Romeo Lavia (€62m)
Christopher Nkunku (€60m)
Cole Palmer (€47m)
Axel Disasi (€45m)
Nicholas Jackson (€37m)
Lesley Ugochukwu (€27m)
Robert Sanchez (€23m)
Djordje Petrovic (€16m)
Deivid Washington (€16m)
Angelo (€15m)
While the headlines have been about Chelsea’s record breaking outlay, the club’s overall balance of transfer spending saw a net deficit of €200 million, thanks to funds raised through the departure of 11 players, alongside other major faces such as Ngolo Kante, Cesar Azpilicueta and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who left for free.
The majority of the club’s outgoing players transferred either Saudi Arabian Pro League clubs (Kante, Koulibaly, Mendy) or a direct Premier League rival, such as Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic opting for moves to Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City respectively.
Chelsea’s leavers:
Kai Havertz (€75m)
Mason Mount (€64.2m)
Mateo Kovacic (€29.1m)
Kalidou Koulibaly (€23m)
Christian Pulisic (€20m)
Edouard Mendy (€18.5m)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (€16m)
Ethan Ampadu (€8.1m)
Romelu Lukaku (loan fee of €5.8m)
Callum Hudson-Odoi (€3.5m)
Kepa Arrizabalaga (loan fee of €1m)
Last season Chelsea finished a disappointing 12th the Premier League last term, missing out on European qualification. The class of 2023 currently sit in 12th place after four games and will be expected to do better.
Chelsea return to action after the international break away to Bournemouth, a game where nothing other than three points will be expected.
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