Chelsea centre-forwards under Roman Abramovich: The good, the bad and the ugly…
Football Whispers look back at every No 9 signed during the Abramovich era and rate their success - or lack of it
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IT'S 14 years since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea and since then he's repeatedly thrown fistfuls of cash to try and improve the Blues’ striking options.
Some buys, notably Didier Drogba and Diego Costa, have been big hits. But for every success comes several expensive flops.
Our friends at look back at every No 9 signed during the Abramovich era and rate their success – or lack of – at Stamford Bridge.
Adrian Mutu
Cost: £15.8m Rating: 2/10
The first No 9 of the Abramovich era and one of the least successful. Romanian international Mutu signed in 2003 and bagged four in his first three games. But he scored just six more during the rest of the campaign.
A high-profile falling out with Jose Mourinho during the 2004/05 season marked the beginning of the end for Mutu and, when he was handed a seven-month ban after testing positive for cocaine, Chelsea sacked the forward.
Hernan Crespo
Cost: £16.8m Rating: 5/10
Signed days after Mutu, Crespo arrived at Stamford Bridge with a reputation as one of Europe’s most feared strikers. But the Argentine failed to live up to that billing and scored just 12 in his first season.
Loaned out to Milan for the 2004/05 campaign, Crespo returned the following season after helping the Italian side reach the Champions League final.
But he played second fiddle to Didier Drogba and was allowed to leave for Inter Milan on a two-year loan after netting 13 times and winning the Premier League. That move became permanent in the summer of 2006.
Mateja Kezman
Cost: £5m Rating: 3/10
Strikers signed from the Eredivisie tend to go one of two ways. Ruud Van Nistelrooy...or Afonso Alves. Kezman, who signed for £5million from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2004, was the latter.
After an impressive 105 goals in 112 league starts for PSV hopes were high when he arrived at Stamford Bridge. But competition from Eidur Gudjohnsen and Didier Drogba denied him regular action.
He left Chelsea after scoring four times in six Premier League starts during his singular season, joining Atletico Madrid.
Didier Drogba
Cost: £24m Rating: 9/10
After scoring 18 times in 30 starts for Marseille during his only season at the club, Drogba was snapped up by the Blues for a record fee.
Following a slow start – the Ivorian scored just seven times before the new year in his first season – Drogba established himself as top dog at Stamford Bridge and finished his maiden campaign with 16 goals, a Premier League winner’s medal and the League Cup.
With his determined, all-action style Drogba became a favourite at the Bridge and left in 2012 having scored 157 times in all competitions, winning 12 trophies.
Andriy Shevchenko
Cost: £30m Rating: 4/10
With most of the strikers they had signed failing, the Blues returned to Italy in 2006 to snap up AC Milan star Shevchenko.
The Ukrainian hitman scored 127 league goals in just 195 starts for the Rossoneri but could not reproduce that form in west London where he managed just nine in 30 Premier League starts.
Two miserable seasons were brought to an end in 2008 when he was loaned back to Milan. But he failed to score a league goal and ended his career in his homeland with Dynamo Kiev.
Claudio Pizarro
Cost: Free Rating: 2/10
The Peruvian joined on a free transfer from Bayern Munich ahead of the 2007/08 campaign after notching 70 in just 128 starts for the German giants.
A goal on his debut, in a 3-2 win over Birmingham City, marked the ideal start. But that was the high point for the South American who fell behind Nicolas Anelka when Avram Grant was appointed as Mourinho’s successor.
Nicolas Anelka
Cost: £15m Rating: 7/10
‘Le Sulk’ made Chelsea his fifth English club in January 2008 when he joined from Bolton Wanderers following a revival under Sam Allardyce.
A slow start to life at Stamford Bridge saw Anelka net just twice in his first half a season with only one of those goals coming in the Premier League. But the following season the Frenchman clicked into gear and he won the Golden Boot with 19 goals.
He scored regularly over the next two seasons but fell out of favour under Andre Villas-Boas and was allowed to join Shanghai Shenhua after bagging 59 goals for the Blues.
Daniel Sturridge
Cost: £3.5m Rating: 4/10
Five goals in as many starts for Manchester City tempted Chelsea into prising Sturridge away from the Citizens in 2009 with a fee of up to £8.3m set by tribunal.
Sturridge was usually restricted to cup run-outs in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge before bagging eight in 11 during a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers.
The 2011/12 season yielded 11 Premier League goals in 28 starts. But Sturridge was back on the bench after Villas-Boas’ departure and left for Liverpool in 2013.
Fernando Torres
Cost: £50m Rating: 6/10
The Spaniard’s £50m arrival from Liverpool at the end of the 2011 January transfer window is one of the most sensational deadline day deals ever.
However, ‘El Nino’ terminal decline began at Stamford Bridge and he scored just once before the end of the 2010/11 season, before managing just 19 Premier League goals in the next three seasons.
His biggest contribution was scoring in the Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona as the Blues won the competition for the first time in their history. The following season he helped the west Londoners clinch the Europa League.
In 2015 he was loaned to Milan, leaving Stamford Bridge with a record of 46 goals from 117 starts.
Romelu Lukaku
Cost: £10m Rating: 3/10
The strapping Belgian arrived in the Premier League in the summer of 2011 when he joined from Anderlecht in a deal rising to £20m.
However, Lukaku did not see regular action for the Blues at any point despite his hefty price tag and loans at West Bromwich Albion and Everton preceded a permanent £28m move to Goodison Park.
Lukaku’s form for the Toffees since means he is a Chelsea transfer target once more.
Demba Ba
Cost: £7m Rating: 6/10
Prolific for Newcastle United during an 18-month spell on Tyneside, Ba joined Chelsea during the 2013 January transfer window and scored twice on his debut for the club in a 5-1 rout of Southampton.
Ba scored four more goals before the end of the season and bagged eight during the 2013/14 season.
He was never a regular and his most memorable moment came when he scored the opener in the Blues’ 2-0 win at Liverpool to open the title race up with two games remaining.
Samuel Eto’o
Cost: £2m Rating: 6/10
Signed from Anzhi Makhachkala ahead of the 2013/14 campaign to provide competition and cover for Torres and Demba, Eto’o arrived with a fine reputation from his time at Barcelona and Inter Milan.
The veteran Cameroonian bagged nine goals from 16 Premier League starts at Mourinho’s men finished third to Manchester City and Liverpool. He joined Everton on a free at the end of his contract.
Diego Costa
Cost: £32m Rating: 9/10
Signed from Atletico Madrid ahead of the 2014/15 season, the Spaniard had long been admired by the Stamford Bridge hierarchy so it was little surprise when he arrived after four successful years in Spain.
The goals have flowed ever since with Costa winning the Premier League in his first season and bagging 20 goals in the process.
The 2015/16 campaign was a forgettable one for both player and club. But Costa has top-scored for Antonio Conte’s side this term with 17 league goals.
A second Premier League title is within touching distance.
Radamel Falcao
Cost: Loan Rating: 2/10
Signed on a season-long loan from Monaco following a disastrous season at Manchester United, Falcao looked a player whose best days were behind him.
The Colombian – prolific at Atletico and Porto – scored just once in 10 league outings and returned to Monaco where he has fired the French side to the Ligue 1 summit.
Loic Remy
Cost: £10.5m Rating: 4/10
Six goals in just 18 games for a relegation-bound Queens Park Rangers side gave a hint of what Remy was capable of. He spent the 2013/14 season on loan at Newcastle United and backed that up with 14 goals for the Magpies.
Chelsea met the Frenchman’s release clause at Loftus Road in the summer of 2014 and brought him to rival Costa for the No 9 shirt. Remy lost the battle and has been limited to just nine Premier League starts, scoring eight times.
This season he has been on loan at Crystal Palace.
Alex Pato
Cost: Loan Rating: 2/10
Signed on loan from Brazilian club Corinthians by interim manager Guus Hiddink, Pato was used sparingly.
He made just two appearances for the Blues and scored once, a penalty in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa.
Pato was keen to make the move permanent but Chelsea were not. He is currently playing in China for Fabio Cannavaro’s Tianjin Quanjian.
Michy Batshuayi
Cost: £33.2m Rating: 3/10
Chelsea beat off competition from Crystal Palace to land the talented young Belgian this summer after he bagged 17 goals in Ligue 1 for Marseille last season.
But Batshuayi, who was part of Belgium’s European Championships squad last summer, has been limited to just 17 substitute outings for Conte’s side in the Premier League, totalling 110 minutes.
He scored his only goal of the season in the 2-1 win at Watford in August and could leave the club this summer.