Chelsea’s dealings in the transfer market in recent seasons have been questionable, to say the least, splashing over £1bn on new players with the majority failing to make an impact.
The club have spent upwards of £120m on Roméo Lavia and Wesley Fofana alone, with the two players only making a combined 21 appearances since their respective moves to Stamford Bridge.
However, the club have conducted brilliant business offloading players who were on big wages at Stamford Bridge and have failed to make any impact at their new club.
Mason Mount is a prime example, with the boyhood Chelsea fan leaving the club for a deal worth £60m to join Manchester United, but failing to settle into life in the North West.
He’s only managed 14 appearances in the Premier League this season, starting just 14% of matches – with the Blues hitting the jackpot with his departure.
The club also made the right decision in releasing one player, who bled the club dry during his time at Stamford Bridge, despite his excellent goalscoring record before his move to England.
Michy Batshuayi’s stats at Chelsea
After forking out £33m for his signature, striker Michy Batshuayi arrived in England with huge potential to be the club’s long-term Didier Drogba replacement.
The Belgian made a promising start to life in London, scoring nine times in his 28 appearances during the 2016/17 season.
Batshuayi would build on his impressive start at the club, reaching double figures in all competitions during the following campaign, before joining Borussia Dortmund on loan for the second half of the 2017/18 season.
He would subsequently leave on two separate spells the following season, joining Valencia and Crystal Palace before returning to Stamford Bridge for one last season.
Batshuayi’s stats at Chelsea
Season
Apps
Goals
2016/17
28
9
2017/18
25
10
2019/20
24
6
Stats via Transfermarkt
The forward managed to score six times in 24 appearances, a solid return, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep him at the club with Batshuayi again having temporary stints away from Stamford Bridge, before sealing a permanent move to Fenerbahce in Turkey during the summer of 2022 – ending his six-year stay with the Blues.
Michy Batshuayi’s wage during his time at Chelsea
Despite enjoying a run of 23 league goals over the last two seasons for the Turkish side, Chelsea made the right call in offloading the 30-year-old a couple of years ago.
He earned £69k-per-week at Stamford Bridge, as per Salary Sport, a figure that is more than current leading man, Nicolas Jackson, who only takes home £65k-per-week – as per Capology – despite netting 16 goals this season.
Excluding his loan spells away from the club, he pocketed £9m in wages alone, when coupled with his £33m transfer fee, saw the club waste £42m on the Belgian forward.
Whilst it was a risk worth taking at the time, the “awful” Batshuayi, as dubbed by journalist Nizaar Kinsella, failed to impose himself during his time at Stamford Bridge.
It’s great to see the striker finding his feet elsewhere once again, but given his huge earnings and transfer fee, he bled the club dry of a huge sum of money that certainly could’ve been invested better elsewhere.
