Revealed!: Abramovich ‘pumped’ £2bn into Chelsea transfers
Chelsea brought up an outrageous milestone in the 2020 summer transfer window – taking their transfer spending under Roman Abramovich to over £2billion.
The Russian billionaire bought the Blues in the summer of 2003 and quickly transformed their fortunes.
Abramovich has never been shy in splashing the cash on big-name transfers.
After all, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, he oversaw 16 new signings, from mega-bucks Hernan Crespo, Damien Duff and Claude Makelele to freebies Craig Rocastle, Neil Sullivan and Marco Ambrosio.
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In the 2003-04 season, Chelsea splashed out to the tune of £153m, according to Transfermarkt.
And it was a similar story a year later as the arrivals of Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Co saw the Blues spend £149.9m.
Those first two years really set the tone, with Chelsea’s gross transfer spend since the summer of 2003 now sitting at £2,002,000,000 – or £2m over £2bn.
Most-recently, the Blues shelled out £222.5m on the likes of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell last summer.
And that, incredibly, pushed the club’s spending in the last 19 years to a smidge over the £2bn barrier.
Of course, Chelsea have recouped a huge chunk of that figure in player sales.
Selling big names such as Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata in recent years has seen them recoup over £200m – including add-ons – alone.
Down the years, Abramovich has helped bankroll some real hits.
The signing of Drogba for just £24m in 2004-05 proved to be a masterstroke as the Ivorian helped guide the club to an incredible period of success.
The 2012 arrival of Hazard and the signing of N’Golo Kante in 2016 are just two other iconic transfers, as well as bargain Ashley Cole from Arsenal for just £6.7m, and William Gallas, in 2006.
However, for every big hit, there’s been a major blunder.
Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres are just two names that constantly pop up on ‘worst transfers ever’ lists.
The pair cost a over £92m combined and never came close to repaying their monster fees.
More recently, Kepa Arrizabalaga – the club’s record buy at £72m – has done little to prove he won’t be popping up on those ‘top ten’ lists in years to come.
The Spanish stopper made blunder after blunder and was eventually replaced by free signing Willy Caballero for a huge chunk of last season.
And he’s since been replaced full-time by £21.6m Edouard Mendy – who looks far more reliable at a little over a quarter of the price.
Nevertheless, since Abramovich has taken over, Chelsea have won their first FIVE Premier League titles – having previously only won the top-flight once in their history, way back in 1954-55.
The West Londoners have also earned their debut Champions League crown in 2011-12.
On top of those, the Blues have won two Europa League titles since 2003 to go with five FA Cup crowns and three League Cup gongs.