Since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in June 2003, the London club has been known as one of the more extravagant spenders in the transfer market. But since shelling out $70 million to Liverpool for Fernando Torres in January 2011, the Blues have been fairly conservative in the transfer market in stark contrast to the rest of England.
This isn’t to say the Blues have stopped spending — in fact they’re spending as much as they ever have — but in a market where everyone else is paying massive sums for every player, Chelsea’s transfer business has stayed relatively the same.
Back in 2003 when Abramovich first came in, the Blues immediately brought in Hernan Crespo, Claude Makélélé, Juan Sebastian Veron, Adrian Mutu, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Damien Duff, an outlay of more than $200 million. The spending continued the next year with Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Petr Cech and Ricardo Carvalho for nearly the same amount.
Hernan Crespo was one of Roman Abramovich's first major signings. Photo: @ChelseaChadder | Twitter
Transfer expenditures dipped to closer to $100 million the next two years when players like Michael Essian, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Andriy Shevchenko, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack (on a free) came to Stamford Bridge. The next three years were lean for the Blues, with a combined outlay of $143 million total.
Torres broke that stretch of frugality, accounting for a large chunk of Chelsea’s $145.5 million paid for players before and during the 2010-11 season. What followed were seasons of steady spending between $108 million and $167 million. In 2014-15, Chelsea actually broke even, bringing in more money than was spent on players. The following year’s net spend was a miniscule $3.6 million.
But in a era when $30 million transfers are the norm (Everton made four such purchases this summer), Chelsea has not increased its spending like most clubs. Everton has outspent Chelsea this summer, with a net spend twice that of the London club. Chelsea is still spending, everyone else is just spending more.
Transfer spending last five years prior to this transfer window. Note the net spend. Photo: @Maazkidwai | Twitter
Are Chelsea and Abramovich getting timid or are they getting smart? Based on recent success, you’d have to go with smart. Since the transfer for Torres, Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, the Europa League in 2013 and the Premier League in 2015 and 2017. One could argue that would make the Blues the most successful English club in the last five years.
The team has done it by buying for need and selling excess. As soon as a player is deemed unnecessary or can be sold for a good price, be it Juan Mata, David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku or Nemanja Matic, the club moves on and finds an immediate replacement suitable to the new manager.
So while clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are now the ones overpaying for goal scorers, Chelsea keeps plodding along with a surprisingly frugal — and successful — transfer policy.
The18 Recommends For You
