Chelsea became the richest club in world football when Roman Abramovich bought them in 2003 – and they didn’t waste any time flexing their financial muscles.
Rather than dip their toes into the transfer market, manager Claudio Ranieri dived in headfirst and spent £120million on a host of new signings. The Premier League had never seen anything like it and would never be the same again.
But how did those new signings get on? We’ve ranked the 14 players Chelsea bought in their first season under Abramovich’s ownership from worst to best.
14. Adrian Mutu
Getting sacked for having been caught taking cocaine probably wasn’t what anyone had in mind when Chelsea paid £15.8million for Mutu.
The player was later ordered to pay the Blues £15million in damages which, as of October 2018, Chelsea were still waiting for.
The bitter ending is a shame considering Mutu was quite the player on his day…
On this day: 2003 – Adrian Mutu scored on his @ChelseaFC debut. #CFC #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/hV4OPQmSz2
— Chad ⭐⭐ (@ChelseaChadder) August 23, 2018
13. Juan Sebastian Veron
You have to question why Chelsea looked at Veron’s performances at Manchester United and thought he’d be the perfect midfield addition.
He scored on his debut at Liverpool but that was as good as it got. After making only 15 appearances, Veron was loaned out to Inter Milan in 2004 and never played for the club again.
This a definite example of having more money than sense.
12. Jurgen Macho
He came, he suffered a serious long-term injury, he left without making a first-team appearance.
Still, at least Macho was free.
11. Neil Sullivan
Signed after Macho’s injury, Sullivan made eight appearances for Chelsea without ever suggesting he’d usurp first-choice goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.
Still, as a solid Premier League performer with Wimbledon and Tottenham, the £500,000 acquisition was as close to a no-risk deal as you can get.
10. Marco Ambrosio
Signing three goalkeepers in the same window smacks of indulgence – almost as if Chelsea had won the lottery or something…
But the decision would prove to be wise after Cudicini suffered a string of injuries that ruled him out for the majority of the season.
Ambrosio was the best of his replacements, his biggest contribution being the string of saves that helped Chelsea overcome Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Despite this, Ambrosio was released in the summer of 2004.
9. Alexey Smertin
Ranieri signed Smertin…
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