How Chelsea made a staggering £400m in just five years from player sales and become the shrewdest club in the Premier League
The truth behind five years of The Blues transfers under a handful of different managers
CHELSEA have become one of the shrewdest clubs in the transfer market in recent seasons – when it comes to selling players at least.
The Blues have made more than £400million from player sales since the summer of 2012 without significantly weakening their side.
Our friends at have looked back over every player Chelsea have sold for more than £1m in the past five summers to decide if it was the right decision.
Oscar to Shanghai SIPG: £60million
WHEN Oscar joined Chelsea in 2012 for £19.5m a few eyebrows were raised.
However, any doubts about the Brazilian were quickly dispelled thanks to an impressive first season in England.
But the now 25-year-old never lived up to his potential. Jose Mourinho can, perhaps, be partly blamed, given he appreciated Oscar’s work-ethic more than his flair. The attacking midfielder was stunted and wasn’t a first-choice under Antonio Conte, who sanctioned Oscar’s big-money move to Shanghai in January.
Verdict: Right
David Luiz to PSG: £50m
THE centre-back achieved cult status during his first spell at Stamford Bridge but his flamboyant style was never going to sit well with Mourinho who sold Luiz to PSG in the summer of 2014.
Two Ligue 1 titles later Luiz returned to Stamford Bridge last summer for £32m. In Conte’s back three, Luiz shone and he was rewarded with a first Premier League title.
Verdict: Right
Juan Mata to Manchester United: £37.1m
IN his two full seasons at Stamford Bridge following a move from Valencia, Mata was twice named Chelsea Player of the Year.
He was loved by supporters and teammates alike but didn’t get along with Mourinho, who didn’t think the Spaniard worked hard enough without the ball.
Mata was sold in January 2014 to United, where two years later he’d be reunited with the Portuguese, but he hasn’t had the same impact.
Verdict: Right
Romelu Lukaku to Everton: £28m
NOBODY doubted the Belgian’s potential but with Everton prepared to smash their transfer record to land Lukaku in the summer of 2014, Mourinho sanctioned the striker’s sale.
It’s proven a costly mistake.
In the three years since, Lukaku has blossomed into one of European football’s brightest young marksmen.
He struck 26 times in all competitions last season and Chelsea are ready to bring him back this summer for a reported £100m.
Verdict: Wrong
Ramires to Jiangsu Suning: £25m
THE Brazilian midfielder was capable of the spectacular – as he proved with that famous chip in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona – but could also be incredibly frustrating.
Ramires had fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea’s 2015/16 campaign imploded and opted for a big-money move to the Chinese Super League with Jiangsu Suning in January 2016.
Verdict: Right
Andre Schurrle to Wolfsburg: £22m
THE German could never cement his place in the Chelsea first-team squad but became a reliable option off the substitutes’ bench.
In his two seasons at Stamford Bridge Schurrle, who was part of Germany’s successful 2014 World Cup squad, scored 14 goals in all competitions.
But when Wolfsburg offered Schurrle the chance of regular first-team football in February 2015, he opted to return to the Bundesliga, netting Chelsea a hefty fee in the process.
He has since moved on to Borussia Dortmund but isn’t a guaranteed starter.
Verdict: Right
Nathan Ake to Bournemouth: £20m
AKE joined Chelsea as a 16-year-old from PSV and soon impressed in the Blues’ youth side.
He possessed composure on the ball and the ability to read the game beyond his years and was handed his debut as a 17-year-old.
However, Ake was never able to break into the first-team.
He spent a season on loan at Watford and half of the previous campaign with Bournemouth before being recalled in January by Conte.
But the Italian didn’t play the Dutchman regularly and he agreed a permanent move to the Cherries last week.
Verdict: Jury’s out
Kevin de Bruyne to Wolfsburg: £19m
THE creative Belgian joined Chelsea from Genk in 2012 but was loaned out to Werder Breman for the 2012/13 season. He starred in the Bundesliga returned to the Blues for the following campaign.
But de Bruyne couldn’t replicate his form and, after being publicly criticised by Mourinho, was sold to Wolfsburg for £19m.
Eighteen months later and Manchester City brought de Bruyne back to the Premier League, paying £55m for the creative midfielder.
Verdict: Wrong
Mohamed Salah to Roma: £17.5m
ANOTHER player who was never truly given a chance by Mourinho was Salah.
He had impressed in games against Chelsea while at Basel and earned a move to Stamford Bridge in January 2014.
But he was afforded just 19 appearances in a year with Chelsea before joining Fiorentina and then Roma on loan.
The Giallorossi made the deal permanent last summer and, after starring during the 2016/17 season, Salah sealed a £37m move to Liverpool.
Verdict: Wrong
Juan Cuadrado to Juventus: £17m
SIGNED by Mourinho to replace Schurrle in February 2015, Colombian star Cuadrado was a Chelsea player for just six months before securing a return to Serie A in the form of a loan deal with Juventus.
That move was made permanent in May after Cuadrado was part of the Juve side who had retained the league title and reached the final of the Champions League.
Verdict: Wrong
Filipe Luis to Atletico Madrid: £16m
REGARDED as one of the world’s finest left-backs, Luis arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2014 having just helped Atletico to the La Liga title.
But Mourinho opted to select Cesar Azpilicueta at left-back for the entirety of the 2014/15 campaign, which meant Luis spent the majority of the season sat on the substitutes’ bench.
It came as little surprise the Brazilian returned to Atletico after just one year in England and has since played in another Champions League final.
Verdict: Wrong
Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool: £12.75m
THE striker joined Chelsea in 2009 after running down his contract at Manchester City.
However, he didn’t feature regularly in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge.
The 2011/12 campaign was by far Sturridge’s most productive as he played 43 games and scored 13 goals, predominantly from the right flank.
He struggled with injury at the start of the following season and was sold to Liverpool in January 2013 by former Reds boss Rafa Benitez.
When fit Sturridge is one of the Premier League’s finest strikers but he’s struggled with injury for the last two seasons.
Verdict: Right
Petr Cech to Arsenal: £11m
CECH had won the lot with Chelsea but spent much of the 2014/15 campaign sat on the substitutes’ bench behind the younger Thibaut Courtois.
Given his legendary status few Blues fans begrudged him a move elsewhere and Cech, not wanting to leave London, agreed a switch to rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2015, much to the displeasure of then-Chelsea boss Mourinho. The Czech has since won two FA Cups.
Verdict: Right
Ryan Bertrand to Southampton: £10m
BERTRAND spent ten years with Chelsea following a move from Gillingham but, despite spells in the side, never truly established himself in the first-team.
He proved a capable back-up and made 57 appearances in total for the Blues, including a start in the 2012 Champions League final.
But when Southampton, fresh from selling Luke Shaw to Manchester United, offered him a regular starting berth in the summer of 2014, Bertrand moved on.
He’s since become a key player for the Saints and a regular in the England squad.
Verdict: Wrong
Asmir Begovic to Bournemouth: £10m
THE Bosnian arrived at Chelsea in July 2015 after five seasons as Stoke City’s No.1 goalkeeper. But he was only ever going to be deputy to Courtois and made just 19 appearances in his two seasons in west London.
Bournemouth wanted to sign Begovic in January but the Blues blocked the sale. However, he was allowed to depart this summer with Chelsea bringing in Willy Caballero.
Verdict: Jury’s out
Bertrand Traore to Lyon: £8.8m
TRAORE officially joined Chelsea in October 2013 but was part of the pre-season squad earlier that year. The Burkina Faso international spent the 2014/15 season out on loan before returning to Stamford Bridge for the following campaign, in which he made 16 appearances and scored four goals.
Traore joined Ajax on loan last summer and impressed as the Dutch club reached the final of the Europa League. He joined Lyon this summer but Chelsea have a buy-back clause in the deal.
Verdict: Jury’s out
Raul Meireles to Fenerbahce: £8.5m
THE Portuguese international arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2011 in a £12m deal from Liverpool. He spent one season in west London but it was a successful one as he was part of the side who won the FA Cup and the Champions League.
Meireles left Chelsea for Fenerbahce a year after arriving and spent four years with the Turkish club.
Verdict: Right
Papy Djilobodji to Sunderland: £8m
ONE of Chelsea’s more bizarre recent signings, Djilobodji joined from Nantes for £2.7m in September 2015. It didn’t take long for Mourinho to decide the Senegal international wasn’t up to scratch and Djilobodji managed just one substitute appearance for the Blues.
He was loaned to Werder Breman for the second half of the 2015/16 campaign before Sunderland strangely offered £8m to sign the centre-back in the summer of 2016, a bid which Chelsea quickly accepted.
He was part of the Black Cats side relegated last season.
Verdict: Right
Demba Ba to Besiktas: £7m
THE Senegal international joined Chelsea in January 2013 after scoring 13 goals in 22 games for Newcastle. And while he never established himself as an automatic starter Ba did net several important goals for the Blues, with one particularly famous one at Anfield.
He left Stamford Bridge after 18 months and moved to Besiktas. He has gone on to play in China but has returned to Besiktas this summer.
Verdict: Right
Christian Atsu to Newcastle United: £6.5m
THE Ghana international was a fully fledged member of Chelsea’s loan army after spells at Vitesse, Everton, Bournemouth, Malaga and, last season, Newcastle United.
It was with the Magpies that Atsu has found a permanent home. He left the Blues this summer having spent four years at the club but never made an appearance.
Verdict: Right
Thorgan Hazard to Gladbach: £5.6m
EDEN's little brother joined Chelsea from Lens in July 2012 but was loaned out for two seasons to Belgian club Zulte Waregem.
He then spent a campaign with Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach and impressed sufficiently for the deal to be made permanent in February 2015. Chelsea received a fee that was 16 times greater than the one they’d paid Lens.
Verdict: Right
Patrick Bamford to Middlesbrough: £5.5m
SNAPPED up for £1.5m from Nottingham Forest in 2012, the teenage forward is one of several who failed to make a single appearance for the West London club despite spending five years on their books.
The striker has thrived away from Chelsea, though, and after working his way into the Premier League via loan spells at MK Dons, Derby and Middlesbrough, he has struggled in top-flight loan stints at Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Burnley.
In January he joined Boro full time but is yet to score.
Verdict: Right
Oriol Romeu to Southampton: £5m
THE former Barcelona youngster joined the Blues following Andre-Villas Boas’ appointment as manager at Stamford Bridge.
Romeu featured regularly for the Blues under the Portuguese but when the former Porto manager was sacked his minutes dried up.
In two season at Stamford Bridge the Spain Under-23 international managed 33 appearances in all competitions.
He subsequently joined Valencia and Stuttgart on loan before completing a move to Southampton last summer. He was impressive last season as the Saints finished eighth.
Verdict: Wrong
Stipe Perica to Udinese: £3.6m
CHELSEA fans could be forgiven for not knowing who Croatian striker Perica is. He joined the Blues from Zadar in a €2.5m deal in 2013 after scoring eight times in 20 outings in the Croatian top flight.
But he was loaned to Eredivisie side NEC Breda before he could make his debut for the club.
A second loan spell, this time to Udinese, followed and after scoring three times for the Zebrette he joined permanently last summer.
Verdict: Right
Fernando Torres to Milan: £2.5m
THE most famous flop in Chelsea’s modern history, Torres arrived at Stamford Bridge for a then British-record fee of £50m on the final day of the 2011 January transfer window. It took him nine games to get off the mark for the Blues and he scored once in just 18 outings for the rest of the season.
Things improved, slightly, after that but he was never able to recapture his best form. Torres left in August 2014 to join AC Milan on a two-year loan deal, which was then made permanent, having won the Champions League and Europa League with the Blues.
Verdict: Right
Marko Marin to Olympiakos: £2m
SNAPPED up from Werder Bremen for an undisclosed fee in April 2012, Chelsea were so keen to sign Marin they agreed the deal for the German winger before the season was out.
However, when he arrived at Stamford Bridge he was limited to just 16 appearances in all competitions, frequently as a substitute, and spent the next four seasons on loan at Sevilla, Fiorentina, Anderlecht and Trabzonspor before completing a permanent switch to the latter last summer.
Verdict: Right
Jeffrey Bruma to PSV: £1.5m
POACHED from Feyenoord’s youth system as a 15-year-old in 2007, Bruma cost the Blues just £100,000. A Premier League debut followed against Blackburn Rovers in 2009 before he was handed a first league start against Aston Villa two years later.
But the centre-back was unable to break into the side on a regular basis and spent time on loan at Leicester City and Hamburg until 2013.
He joined PSV Eindhoven on a permanent basis in 2013 and has since moved on to struggling Hamburg.
Verdict: Right
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip in our live blog
Patrick van Aanholt to Sunderland: £1.5m
THE Dutch full-back arrived at Stamford Bridge from PSV Eindhoven in 2007. He was loaned out to Coventry City and made his professional debut in 2009 before being recalled.
However, he never found regular action in west London and was loaned back out.
Van Aanholt spent time at Newcastle United, Leicester City, Wigan Athletic and Vitesse Arnhem until 2014 when he joined Sunderland on a permanent basis. In January he moved to Crystal Palace for a rise rising to £14m.
Verdict: Right
