Chelsea’s Worst Transfers Of The Abramovich Era

Everything Else    By Devin Chanda on September 10, 2009 at 10:56 am

Last week, news broke that English heavyweights Chelsea were to be banned from buying any talent in the next three transfer windows (January ’10 and Summer ’10) after improperly inducing French teen Gaël Kakuta to jump ship from RC Lens.

Now, without the ability to supplement their aging squad with new faces, Chelsea will face a tough task in keeping up with Europe’s elite as it standard practice for teams to reload every transfer window. Consider the fact that Chelsea has a strong African contingent (Drogba, Essien, Obi Mikel) that they’ll lose in January to the African Cup of Nations and the Kakuta signing becomes even more disastrous.

In recent years, though, bad signings have not been foreign concepts to Chelsea. After billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the team in 2003, he bankrolled risky signing after signing to hasten Chelsea’s rise to the top. Here’s the five extraordinarily bad ones over the years that now have Abramovich keeping his check book, well, in check.

5. Glen Johnson (£5 million from West Ham United F.C.)

The first signing of the Abramovich era, Johnson is now on the verge of starting for the English NT. However, in the three seasons he spent in West London, Johnson only managed 51 appearances, including an embarrassing four in the 2005/6 domestic season—too little to qualify for a medal during Chelsea’s title-winning season.

4. Adrian Mutu (£15.8 million from Parma in 2003)

After managing a half-decent return of only 10 goals in all competitions in his first season, he failed a drug test for cocaine just a month into his second season at Chelsea, resulting in a 7-month ban and ultimately being let go. Mutu’s transfer would definitely rank higher, had the courts not ruled that he must to pay £14.65 million to Chelsea to compensate for the transfer fee.

3. Juan Sebastian Veron (£15 million from Manchester United)

The Argentine stands as one of the biggest flops in the history of Manchester United, who sold him to Chelsea after just two ineffectual seasons. After just 14 appearances, he was loaned out to Inter Milan for two seasons, where he helped them to two Scudettis. His time in England damaged his rep, which he later restored after leading his boyhood club Estudiantes to the ’06 Argentine championship and eventually the 2009 Copa Libertadores, as well.

2. Shaun Wright-Phillips (£21 million from Manchester City)

When an English club purchases a promising English prospect, they can expect to pay a premium. Chelsea knew they overpaid by a couple of million pounds when they bought SWP from Man City. Little did they know they got robbed blind, buying a player who only managed four league goals in three seasons, with two coming in one match. He was then sold back to Man City prior to the 2008/9 season for £8.5 million.

1. Andriy Shevchenko (£30.8 million from AC Milan in 2006)

The obvious choice. If his horrid miss in the ‘05 Champions League Final was any indication, the goalscoring powers of the 2004 Ballon d’Or winner were fading. An English record buy in 2006, he found himself on the bench behind Didier Drogba after consistently failing to find the net. Desperate to resurrect his career, he was loaned back to Milan, again riding the pine behind the likes of 19 year-old Brazilian Pato. He’s now back at Dynamo Kyiv, his first club.

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