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Chelsea have recruited some of the best talents in world football, especially since Roman Abramovich took over the club's reign from Ken Bates in 2003. Chelsea have been one of the biggest spenders in Premier League football over the last decade, with a transfer expenditure of €1,465million - second only to Manchester City's €1,521.91million.
Abramovich-led Chelsea have signed many world-class players like Drogba and Lampard among many others. The lavish spending has certainly borne fruit as Chelsea have been the most dominant sides in English football since 2003 - winning five Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues, and the prestigious Champions League, among others.
However, they have not always been the smartest in their transfer market operations, making some underwhelming signings along the way. Today, let's take a look at:
5 Chelsea transfers that came out of nowhere
#5 Alexandre Pato
Alex Pato was tipped to be the next big thing in Brazilian football, drawing comparisons to Brazilian legend, Kaka. While this would have been a stellar signing in the prime of Pato's career, Chelsea recruited the forward when he found a starting spot in Corinthians hard to come by.
Pato's English adventure on a 6-month loan deal was a rather strange one. The Brazilian never really impressed Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink and made just two appearances for the club. While he became the sixth Brazilian to score on his Premier League debut, converting from the spot against Aston Villa, he was only a shadow of the player he once promised to be.
Pato fell down the pecking order with the likes of Willian, Loic Remy, and Bertrand Traore ahead of him. Chelsea had the option to extend Pato's stay at the club, but decided to part ways with the Brazilian. Although Pato's transfer didn't hurt Chelsea in terms of transfer fees, his £30,000-a-week wages was arguably wasted money.
#4 Jiri Jarošík
One would argue Jarosik was more of an Abramovich signing than a Mourinho one, and was among a host of players who made the move to Stamford Bridge from CSKA Moscow.
This £3 million signing made little to no sense, as Jarosik had immense competition at his position from modern Chelsea greats such as Lampard, Makelele, and Essien. The 27-year old Czech was a pretty decent footballer, but was like a fish out of water in the Premier League. Jarosik managed only 14 appearances for Chelsea before being loaned out to Birmingham.
After a rather forgettable year at the club, the Czech midfielder departed Chelsea and would hang up his boots in 2015 after a good spell in Deportivo Alaves.
