Six Of Chelsea’s Worst Signings Of The Last Decade

Now we have reached 2020, it’s gives us some time to reflect on some of the mistakes Chelsea have made in the transfer market over the last ten years.

Of course, there have been many successes, with the likes of Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante having proven to be very shrewd buys, but there have been some colossal errors as well.

We have decided to pick out six signings from the past decade that turned out to be big mistakes.

Press the “next page” to find out which former (and current) Blue stars we have identified as transfer flops:

Danny Drinkwater

A deadline day signing from Leicester in August 2017, the central midfielder has proven to be a massive disappointment, having rarely played during his two and a half years at Stamford Bridge.

Drinkwater has played just 23 times for the club, despite Chelsea having shelled out £35m on the player. It certainly didn’t work out as well as Kante’s move from the Foxes.

Fernando Torres

The Spaniard did have his moments in a Chelsea shirt after his £50m move from Liverpool in January 2011, especially the crucial goal against Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League semi-final.

However, Torres’s 45 goals in 172 appearances is not what you would have expected from what was a British transfer record signing at the time.

Alvaro Morata

The curse of the no.9 jersey struck again with another Spaniard after his £58m switch from Real Madrid in 2017. Injury hampered his first season with 11 goals in 31 games.

But after struggling in the first half of the 2018/19 campaign, he was eventually shipped out on loan to Atletico Madrid where he moved to permanently last summer.

Tiemoue Bakayoko

The Frenchman never looked like he merited the £40m that Chelsea shelled out on him in 2017. He played 43 times during Antonio Conte’s second season in charge but never won over his critics.

Bakayoko has now been on two successive loan spells at AC Milan and Monaco having failed to convince either Maurizio Sarri or Frank Lampard.

Radamel Falcao

After a disappointing loan spell at Manchester United, it was a surprise when the Blues snapped up the Colombian at the start of the 2015/16 season.

Unsurprisingly, Falcao’s switch to Stamford Bridge did not work out with just one goal in 12 appearances for the club.

Juan Cuadrado

Chelsea spent £23m on another Colombian in January 2015, but the Fiorentina winger flattered to deceive with no goals and just one assist during his brief six-month stay in England.

He was loaned back to Juventus for two seasons before the Blues recouped some money for the winger when he signed permanently for the Bianconeri in 2017.