Ranking Chelsea's top 5 most expensive signings in history

Chelsea are one of the top teams in England, winning five English Premier League titles, eight FA Cups, five League Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles. With that success, comes some big transfer investments. Over the years Chelsea have been one of the big spenders across Europe.

With the kind of big spending they have undertaken, there will always be some good investments and some bad ones.

But how do Chelsea's top 5 record transfers (according to transfermarkt) rank? Let's get into it.

#5 Romelu Lukaku - £97m (2nd biggest transfer fee)

Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku for a second time for a reported £97m in 2021. This was off the back of a great season with Inter Milan where he scored 24 goals in 36 league games.

The move never worked out for Lukaku as he failed to impress, scoring just eight goals in the Premier League. In the summer, just a year after he was signed, he was loaned back to Inter Milan for the 2022/23 season.

It does not appear that Lukaku will have a future at Chelsea as he returns from loan with links to the Saudi league. It was a move which at the time made sense but the Belgian has failed to live up to the big price tag.

#4 Kepa Arrizabalaga - £70m (5th biggest transfer fee)

Kepa Arrizabalaga

In August 2018, Chelsea activated Kepa Arrizabalaga's release clause of £70m from Athletic Bilbao. This made him the most expensive goalkeeper in history; a record that is yet to be broken. He was signed on a seven-year deal to replace Thibaut Courtois who left for Real Madrid.

Kepa started brightly but fell out of form under Frank Lampard in the 2019/20 season, this seen Lampard start second choice keeper Willy Caballero. In the summer of the 2020/21 season, Edouard Mendy was bought and quickly became the new number one.

Under Graham Potter in the 2022/23 season, Kepa was reinstated as the first choice keeper ahead of Mendy due to his ball playing abilities. Now, with Mauricio Pochettino as the new manager, there are rumours that he will back Kepa to keep his place in the team, especially since Mendy has departed for Saudi.

Overall, Kepa has not been consistent enough to back up his record-breaking transfer fee, but there is still time for the Spaniard to prove himself.

#3 Wesley Fofana - £71m (3rd biggest transfer fee)

Wesley Fofana

The jury will still be out on French defender Wesley Fofana. There is no denying the player has real quality and showed ability in the Premier League with Leicester City.

Injuries have held Fofana back slightly as he managed to play just 15 Premier League games in the 2022/23 season. In this time, Fofana has shown some signs of encouragement with positve performances.

Fofana is only 22 years old and cannot be blamed for Chelsea's poor season. There is still plenty of time for Fofana to prove himself at this transfer fee.

#2 Enzo Fernandez - £105m (biggest transfer fee)

Enzo Fernandez

Enzo Fernandez put in great performances as Argentina won the World Cup in 2022. He was named the Young Player of the Tournament and Chelsea went all out for him in the January transfer window.

The first six months of his Chelsea career were a poor one due to the team's performances. Despite this, Fernandez has shown some quality. The midfielder signed an eight-and-a-half year deal with Chelsea and so, he still has plenty of time ahead of him.

His qualities are there to be seen and Fernandez could be a top player in Chelsea's midfield for years to come, especially in the system that Pochettino likes to play. However, it is a very large transfer fee and it is yet to be seen whether it will have been worthwile.

#1 Kai Havertz - £72m (2nd biggest transfer fee)

Kai Havertz

In lots of Chelsea fans eyes, Kai Havertz made up for his transfer fee in May 2021. He scored in the Champions League final against Manchester City as Chelsea won 1-0.

Aside from that it has been up and down for Havertz in a Chelsea shirt. It has been a struggle to find his best position; either up front or just off the striker. Havertz was a slight shining light in Chelsea's dismal 2022-23 season. He had the most goals and chances created of any Chelsea player.

Havertz has moved to Arsenal this summer for a reported £65m plus add ons fee. This would mean that Chelsea have almost made their money back on his purchase.

Chelsea have got a few seasons out of Havertz and a Champions League winning goal whilst making the money back on the sale. Overall, I think Chelsea fans would see that as more of a successful signing than an expensive one.