5 times Chelsea overpaid for a player

#3 Danny Drinkwater - £34 million

Chelsea v Stoke City - Premier League

One of the most bizarre Chelsea transfers was the signing of Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City for a pretty hefty £34 million in 2017. The move surprised everyone considering that Drinkwater wasn't really good enough to don the Blue jersey.

He had played a vital role in Leicester City's title win, but his performances the following season were simply not good enough to warrant a move to Chelsea.

With just 23 appearances for Chelsea during the 2017-18 season, Drinkwater never really broke into the team. He has not played a single competitive match for the Blues since the 2018 Community Shield.

Drinkwater has been on loan to both Burnley and Aston Villa since then, but couldn't amass more than 500 minutes for both combined. His off-field problems at both the clubs got more attention than his on-field performances.

The 31-year-old then moved on loan to Kasimpasa in Turkey before joining Reading this summer in another temporary deal.

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#2 Michy Batshuayi - £35 million

Chelsea FC v Manchester United - Premier League

Only if Michy Batshuayi's football game was as strong as his Instagram one. The Belgian is another big-money striker who failed at Chelsea.

Batshuayi arrived at Chelsea after an impressive season with Marseille, where he registered 23 goals and 10 assists for the Ligue 1 side. Plenty of Chelsea fans hoped the forward would be the next clinical number nine to lead the Blues upfront.

But apart from scoring the title-winning goal in 2016-17, the 28-year-old has failed to make any notable contributions for the Blues. He has managed to score just 25 goals in 77 appearances across all competitions for the Blues with only eight of those coming in the Premier League.

He was later sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund, Valencia and Crystal Palace before staying with the Blues during the 2019-20 season under Frank Lampard. Batshuayi returned on loan to the Eagles last season before being sent to Besiktas for the 2021-22 season on a similar deal.

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#1 Kepa Arrizabalaga - £72 million

Chelsea FC v Liverpool FC - Premier League

Spending a world-record fee on a goalkeeper was always going to bring a lot of pressure and expectations and that is exactly what hurt Kepa Arrizabalaga.

With Thibaut Courtois departing abruptly for Real Madrid, the Blues hoped they could bring in a consistent and capable replacement between the sticks. As such, they signed the former Athletic Bilbao keeper for a then club-record £72 million in 2018. However, Kepa was anything but that.

Under Maurizio Sarri, Kepa was average at best and while he looked promising, he certainly wasn't world-class. In the 2019-20 season, it was a completely different story.

Kepa had the lowest save percentage of any goalkeeper in the Premier League, conceding 47 league goals, while making just 1.7 saves per 90 minutes. He made several errors during that time, which forced Frank Lampard to use Willy Caballero during the latter stages of the season.

The 27-year-old's performances forced Chelsea to bring in Edouard Mendy last summer, with the Senegalese now firmly establishing himself as the No 1 for the Blues.

Kepa's performances have seen drastic improvement since Thomas Tuchel's appointment. He has managed to keep six clean sheets in 10 appearances under the German manager and also won penalty shootouts for Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup and League Cup.

Despite Chelsea being desperate to sign Kepa and Bilbao characteristically becoming tough negotiators, the £72 million shelled out on the custodian still feels massively exorbitant.