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Chelsea are the first club in England to undergo an overnight transformation, as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. As the story goes, Abramovich was greatly entertained by Real Madrid and Manchester United's 2003 Champions League tie at Old Trafford. He enjoyed it so much that he was desperate to own a football club, ultimately choosing Chelsea FC.
Newcastle's recent impending takeover looks set to transform the club and has been met with great excitement and expectations for on-field success. They will definitely be taking a cue from Chelsea.
Since Roman Abramovich entered the frame, Chelsea have notoriously splashed the cash on superstar signings and marquee players. The likes of Eden Hazard, Kai Havertz, Didier Drogba and Romelu Lukaku have made the club one of the most consistently successful and competitive in all of Europe.
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For the many successful signings, there have been many costly misses as well. Here's ranking Chelsea's five worst signings of the Abramovich era, which proves price tags are no guarantee.
#5 Danny Drinkwater
A huge question mark transfer from the very moment it was made, Chelsea paid £35 million to Leicester City for the former Premier League winning midfielder. Perhaps spurred on by his successful partnership with N'Golo Kante, Drinkwater was signed in 2017 to add to Antonio Conte's squad.
Drinkwater cut an ineffectual and underconfident figure, who made just 23 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea. He was designated a dead weight by Chelsea's revolving manager seat. What followed were loan moves to Burnley (which was terminated early), Aston Villa, an expedition to Kasimapas SK in Turkey and now in Reading.
#4 Tiémoué Bakayoko
A certified disaster in Chelsea colours, the French midfielder came with a huge reputation having been part of a Monaco team that won Ligue 1. They also reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2016, with players like Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar and Bernardo Silva.
Chelsea paid an inflated £40M fee for Bakayoko's services in 2017, needing to replace the immensely successful Nemanja Matic's departure to Manchester United. Unfortunately, under the pressure of the price tag and the usual weight of delivering to Abramovich's expectations, Bakayoko had a terrible season. Chelsea made a poor defense of their league crown, losing their manager in the process.
Whilst on the pitch, Bakayoko became the target of vocal criticism for his ineffectual play and looked technically out of depth at a club at Chelsea's level. On the opposite spectrum of Kante's ability and energy, Bakayoko was completely unable to adapt to Premier League football.
After two consecutive poor seasons, he was dispatched out on loan to Italy. He had spells with AC Milan, back to Monaco, then to Napoli and AC Milan once again, all the while still on Chelsea's books.
#3 Kepa Arrizabalaga
It might seem incredibly harsh to put down a player who is still on Chelsea's books as a flop. But there's no doubting, bar a miraculous turnaround, that Kepa Arrizabalaga will go down as an expensive flop.
Signed for a ludicrous £72 million fee in 2018 from Athletic Bilbao, Kepa arrived with immense expectations of being the costliest goalkeeper in world football. He was signed as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois.
After a moderately promising start, it became apparent that the acrobatic shotstopper had many shortcomings. These were mainly in his shot-stopping ability and command over his box. Many frustrating performances ensued, not at the very least a public defiance of Maurizio Sarri when he refused to be substituted.
After consistently being dropped, and with Eduoard Mendy's excellent form after his surprise signing, Kepa has been relegated to the bench. The starting spot has slipped away from his reach. He had a redemptive game when he won the UEFA Super Cup for Chelsea. He came off the bench to perform penalty heroics, however it would take far more to come close to justifying his fee.
#2 Andriy Shevchenko
The signing of Andriy Shevchenko is one of the most infamous transfers in Chelsea history. That signing arguably cost Jose Mourinho his job and damaged the relationship between him and Roman Abramovich.
The former Balon d'Or winner was a world class superstar at AC Milan. He scored 176 goals, and was a prolific goalscorer in both Italy and Ukraine.
As much as his reputation motivated the move, Schevchenko was also a close friend of Abramovich. He was signed for a world record £30.8 million fee, and was every bit of a luxury signing, adding to Chelsea's already top-heavy squad.
Squabbles with Jose Mourinho and very public fallouts meant a return of just nine goals in 48 Premier League appearances. He was a shadow of the lethal forward that once was.
Schevchenko was acrimoniously left out of matchday squads, leading to his departure (first on loan) to AC Milan. He then moved permanently to his boyhood club, Dynamo Kyiv, where he retired in 2012.
#1 Fernando Torres
The definition of a disaster signing, Fernando Torres, was signed by Chelsea in January 2011 for a jaw dropping £50 million pound fee.
For Liverpool, the free-flowing Spanish forward was a devastatingly fast and nippy forward with a lethal eye for goal. He almost singlehandedly dragged Liverpool to compete for the 2009 Premier League title.
A combination of knee injuries and poor form meant Torres had a dip in form when a surprise bid from Chelsea came through for Liverpool's benefit.
It is hard to categorize a player who won the Europa League and Champions League as a flop. But his ability and influence on the pitch was very clearly weakened with sensational misses, a lack of confidence and fragile forward play.
With the sheer amount of the transfer fee weighing heavy since his first day at Stamford Bridge, Torres could not recapture the form he showed at Liverpool and earlier Atletico Madrid. He went on to spend close to five seasons at Chelsea, scoring 45 goals in 172 appearances before returning home to Atletico Madrid
