Chelsea's most expensive signings ever

Even before the modern riches splurged by Roman Abramovich and Todd Boehly, Chelsea had a reputation as overzealous spenders.

However, it was that recklessness in the transfer market that piled debt onto the club before the era of oligarchs and adventure capitalists. In the last season of Ken Bates' ownership, Chelsea didn't pay a single transfer fee for any player.

Those days are long gone. Here are the individuals that have commanded the biggest sums from Chelsea's free-spending owners.

Chelsea's most expensive signings ever

10. Christopher Nkunku - £52m

Christopher Nkunku only had the chance to deliver two assists for Paris Saint-Germain before the academy graduate was shipped off to RB Leipzig; one for Neymar, the other for Kylian Mbappe.

Comfortable operating among the elite, Nkunku will certainly be surrounded by plenty of expensive players at Stamford Bridge.

9. Christian Pulisic - £57.6m

When Christian Pulisic was signed by Chelsea for $65m in 2019, he cost more than triple the fee of the previous most-expensive American footballer (John Brooks had set Wolfsburg back $19.4m in 2017).

None of Pulisic's compatriots have come close to matching such a gargantuan sum in the intervening years but the former Borussia Dortmund winger has scarcely lived up to his lofty price tag in a Chelsea shirt.

8. Alvaro Morata - £58m

Alvaro Morata suffered during his first season as Chelsea's record signing, following in the stumbling footsteps of numerous strikers to wilt under the pressure of the club's number nine shirt.

During his second and final season at Stamford Bridge, the injury-prone forward's mental health followed the downward trajectory of his physical well-being. "I've never had depression and I hope I never do, but I came close," he admitted.

7. Marc Cucurella - £60m

The summer of 2022 will surely go down as one of the most chaotic in the history Chelsea's transfer carnage. Fresh from a takeover enforced by the sanctions placed on former owner Abramovich, Boehly acted as the interim sporting director.

A former wrestler in college and the owner of a baseball team, Boehly has a background in sports but not football. Thomas Tuchel was roped in to help as well as map out pre-season training. Amid this anarchy, somehow Brighton convinced Chelsea to part ways with £60m for Marc Cucurella.

6. Mykhailo Mudryk - £62m

The eight-and-a-half-year deal to which Chelsea tied Mykhailo Mudryk down in January 2023 could rise as high as £88.5m if certain targets are hit.

Yet, before any add-ons were included, Shakhtar Donetsk president Rinat Akhmetov donated £20.5m - a third of the initial fee - to the Ukrainian war effort.

5. Kai Havertz - £71m

Kai Havertz may not have scored the number of goals expected of the ephemeral forward when he was signed for north of £70m in the lockdown summer of 2020, but he chose the right moment to find the net.

With the only goal of the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City, Havertz won the big-eared trophy for the Blues - the total prize money from the competition comfortably exceed Havertz's fee at an estimated £95m.

4. Kepa Arrizabalaga - £72m

For more than half a decade, Gianluigi Buffon held the record of the world's most expensive goalkeeper, joining Juventus for £32.6m in 2001 from Parma. Ederson only eclipsed Buffon's fee the year before Kepa Arrizabalaga annihilated it.

Signed after just two seasons of senior football with Athletic Club, Kepa's lack of experience has been evident throughout a rocky few years at Chelsea.

3. Wesley Fofana - £75m

During an injury-ravaged debut campaign at Stamford Bridge, Wesley Fofana felt the full force of the managerial merry-go-round.

Fofana was signed by Tuchel but made his first start under Graham Potter and didn't keep his second top-flight clean sheet until Bruno Saltor's solitary game as interim manager.

2. Romelu Lukaku - £97.5m

On a tour of Stamford Bridge in 2010, Romelu Lukaku was ushered away from the stands. "Later you can dream as much as you want," he was told. "Dream?" Lukaku, aged 16, asked. "I'm not dreaming. One day I'll play here, you'll see."

Lukaku got his dream move the following year but was bought by Chelsea for a second time in 2021 for £97.5m. Unfortunately, both spells for Lukaku in west London have been closer to nightmares than dreams.

1. Enzo Fernandez - £107m

Enzo Fernandez may not have made the official sticker book of the 2022 World Cup, but by the end of the tournament in Qatar, his glossy image was in the scouting report of every club among Europe's elite.

Chelsea won the race for the player his childhood teammates called "The Musician" (because he conducted the orchestra of the pitch) with a British-record £107m fee Benfica simply could not refuse.

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