5 top strikers who failed to deliver the goods in Chelsea colours

Chelsea are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in world football presently. Ever since the Premier League began in 1992 and following the subsequent takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2004, the club's profile has been inching steadily upwards.

Since the Premier League era began in 1992, the Blues have signed more than their fair share of strikers. From Mark Hughes down to Alvaro Morata, a dizzying variety of frontmen with different attributes have arrived for some very high fees.

There have been huge successes, Didier Drogba was a snip for the £24 million the Blues paid for him in 2005, while Diego Costa was majestic for the side, bulldozing his way to two Premier League titles in 3 and a half seasons. Other successes include Hernan Crespo, Jimmy Floyd-Hasslebaink, Nicholas Anelka amongst others.

Then there have been the let-downs (quite a few actually!). Adrian Mutu's drug issues meant that the fans never got to see just how good he could have been while the jury is still out on Morata.

Here is a look at 5 quality strikers who were brilliant elsewhere but failed to deliver whilst at Chelsea:

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#5 Carlton Cole (2001-2006)

Cole (left) did little of note in a Chelsea shirt

One of the few English strikers to have worn the colours of Chelsea in the Premier League era, the Nigerian-born player never got going in the blue shirt.

Despite spending six seasons on the club's books following his promotion from the club's academy, Cole only played two full seasons at Stamford Bridge before being let go to join West Ham in the 2006-2007 season.

A lot was expected of Cole when he made his debut for the club during the 2000/01 Premier League season as an understudy to Hasslebaink and Gianfranco Zola. Then manager Claudio Ranieri had described Cole as one of the best young talents in the world, everyone thought he was going to become the new local lad who made it; in the mould of Dennis Wise and Graeme Le Saux.

However, his lack of technique, sense of positioning and inability to deliver the goods meant that he was always seen as an option off the bench. Of the 5 seasons he spent at the club, three were on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, and Aston Villa.

He never fulfilled his potential and in 31 games for the club, he only got 8 goals.

#4 Mateja Kezman (2004-2005)

Much was expected of Kezman, little was delivered

A lot was expected of Mateja Kezman, the then Yugoslavian pocket dynamo, following his transfer to Stamford Bridge from Dutch giants PSV.

Pacy, direct with a low centre of gravity and deadly finishing, it was expected that the pocket dynamo would be tailor-made for the helter-skelter world of English football.

He had scored 35 goals in the 2002/2003 season in the Eredivisie as PSV won the title and seemed the goleador that the Blues really needed to kick-start the Roman Abramovich era.

It turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions as Kezman looked hopelessly out of his depth as the team's Arrowhead. While he wasn't helped by the conservatism and constant tinkering of then manager Claudio Ranieri, the striker looked like a deer caught in headlights and in his only full season in England; he hit the net 7 times in 41 matches.

A season later, he was sold to Atletico Madrid for £5.3 million, the same amount for which he was bought.

#3 Claudio Pizarro (2007-2008)

A Bundesliga hero; Pizarro never showed up in the Premier League

The summer of 2007 was one of the strangest transfer windows that Chelsea had had in the Premier League era. That season, the likes of Tal Ben Haim, Pizarro, Steve Sidwell were brought in to reinforce the team that had finished 2nd to Manchester United in the previous season.

The giant Peruvian had been one of Europe's best strikers during his time at German club Werder Bremen where he became the club's record goalscorer and the highest foreign goalscorer in Bundesliga history.

He couldn't transfer his legendary goal-scoring skills to the Premier League in Chelsea colours as he wasn't able to prove himself a suitable backup for Didier Drogba.

His slow-paced style wasn't a good fit for what wasn't a quick Chelsea team under both Mourinho (who was sacked that season) and his replacement; Avram Grant. Given Frank Lampard's penchant for occupying the space strikers normally occupy, Pizarro never showed his true form and only scored twice in 32 games for the Blues.

#2 Andriy Shevchenko (2006-2009)

Chelsea fans never got to see the real Sheva

It was never going to work out for the Ballon d'Or winner at Stamford Bridge.

The Ukrainian prior to his move to Stamford Bridge had been one of Europe's deadliest strikers. Playing in the Red and Black of AC Milan, Shevchenko's pace, trickery, ruthless finishing and world-class abilities had made him a household name

In the summer of 2006, Abrahmovic decided that it would be a good idea to get the Ukrainian to ply his trade in the Premier League. A fee of £30.8 million was paid and Shevchenko joined to the delight of the club's fans.

Right from the first day, it became clear that he wasn't a good fit for the team. Jose Mourinho had not wanted the striker and therefore, made no effort to tweak his team and tactics to fit in the former Dynamo Kiev superstar.

At this point, Shevchenko had lost some of his deadly pace due to age and a succession of injuries. With Mourinho refusing to tweak his tactics and the incompatibility with the midfield at that point meant that he could only score 22 goals in 77 appearances for the club during his rather sad stay in England.

#1 Fernando Torres (2011-2015)

Torres was an inexplicably bad signing for Chelsea

It had to be the Spaniard, didn't it? Quite how Torres' Chelsea career turned out the way it did is a mystery that till today is difficult to explain.

Before his ill-fated time at Stamford Bridge, El Nino had been one of Europe's most deadly strikers. During his time with boyhood club Atletico Madrid and later on with Liverpool, he was a sight to behold.

With his flaming locks of blond hair, acceleration, dribbling, hold-up play and finishing, Torres was a majestic presence leading the front line alone for these clubs and in tandem with David Villa for Spain.

However, the serious injuries he had suffered in his last two seasons at Anfield seemed to sap the energy and ability from him. When he joined Chelsea in the 2011 January transfer window for a then British record fee of £50 million, it seemed a perfect move.

However, like Shevchenko, the team's style of play didn't fit his and the presence/style of the leading attackers then; Didier Drogba and Lampard meant that his room to show what he could do was curtailed.

To be fair to Chelsea, Torres was given ample chances to prove himself. To be fair to Torres himself, he tried to put in a shift and worked hard but it just never clicked for him.

While his famous injury-time equalizer in the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Barcelona is one that Chelsea fans will always remember with fondness, Torres never came close to justifying his fee and his tally of 45 goals in 172 matches shows just how bad it was.