Chelsea began their ascent into the upper echelons of English football in the mid-nineties, quietly making ripples whilst the giants that were Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal fought it out for all the honours.
Since then, they have reached heady heights, capped off with an incredible Champions League run and victory in the 2011/12 season, and another European trophy in the form of a Europa league the next. They have also won the league 4 times in the past decade and boast of numerous domestic trophies, especially dominant in the FA Cup.
The foundation for this success was built upon players such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba, most of whom were brought in after the Roman Abramovich administration took over and made them into the world beaters that they are today.
Beyond these few, Chelsea have also boasted of many great players; the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Michael Ballack, Claude Makelele, and Nicolas Anelka have called Stamford Bridge’s hallowed pitch home at some point in time.
But all this success has come at a cost. Many have made the move to the London side with the hope of winning trophies and making a name, but instead found their careers stagnate and come to a standstill.
Here we take a look at 5 players who made the move to Stamford Bridge, but failed to make any significant impact and effectively ruined blossoming careers.
#1 Mateja Kezman
Once feared as one of the deadliest strikers in world football, the now 37-year-old Serbian is now a sports agent after retiring from the game in 2011.
Moving to London after a 4-year spell at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, he was expected to bring goals to the Chelsea attack. Joined by a young Arjen Robben, also from PSV, the duo were touted to form a formidable partnership and lead Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years.
But as the stats suggest, his career proceeded to take a nosedive. In 4 seasons in the Netherlands, Kezman had scored an incredible 105 goals in 122 appearances and his previously mentioned partnership with Robben had earned him the nickname “Batman”.
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But after 41 appearances and just 7 goals in the 2004-05 season, Mourinho decided he did not have a place in his squad for those not pulling their weight and was sold to Atletico Madrid for £5.3m; coincidentally, the same price they bought him for.
Further spells in Paris Saint-Germain and Fenerbahce did not see him reach previous heights with him calling it quits after a spell in China.
He was one of the many who, after lighting it up the Dutch league, simply could not adjust to the intensity of the Premier League, with him hardly leaving any mark in the minds of Chelsea fans.
#2 Hernan Crespo
Hernan Crespo is one of the few players in world football who can boast of the title of having been the “most expensive player” at one point in time.
A very impressive start to a career in Italy saw him score 80 goals in 151 appearances for Parma and notch a trophy in the form of the Italian Super Cup. This saw Lazio pay a then massive £35m for the striker who went on to pull similar numbers for them, scoring 58 goals in just 73 appearances.
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After a brief spell at Inter Milan, he moved to Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea and scored only 13 goals in 43 appearances. With Ranieri’s sacking and the arrival of Jose Mourinho from Porto, he was deemed surplus to requirements at the Bridge and loaned out to AC Milan.
Though he did recapture some of his previous form at the Rossoneri, scoring 2 goals in that ill-fated Champions League final against Liverpool, he never hit the potential he showed while at Lazio and Parma.
He was released by the Blues upon the expiry of his contract in 2008 and he had further spells at Inter Milan, Genoa and Parma, where he failed to impress and mostly took up the role of a fringe player.
#3 Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips moved to Chelsea in a £21m deal from Manchester City as part of the Russian revolution under Roman Abramovich.
He broke into the Manchester City side as an 18-year-old and went on to establish himself as a first-team regular under Kevin Keegan. He won City’s “Young Player of the Year award” a record 3 times, before catching the eye of Chelsea, who snapped him up on a 5-year contract in 2005.
But the pressure of a hefty price-tag and the unenviable task of breaking into a team filled to the brim with superstars meant Phillips wasn’t getting the game-time that his talent warranted. Fighting it out with the likes of Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and Damien Duff, he spent most of his time at Chelsea on the bench and that consequentially affected his blossoming England career.
He missed out on England’s squad for the 2006 World Cup and missing out on a spot in the squad for the Blues’ Champions League finals clash against Manchester United, effectively signalling an end to his Chelsea career.
He then made a move back to Manchester City, but failed to impress. A further spell at Queens Park Rangers didn’t reignite a faltering career and he now plies his trade in the MLS for the New York Red Bulls.
#4 Andriy Shevchenko
Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko was a club legend at AC Milan and was adored by fans and respected by colleagues.
His list of achievements are incredible. He’s the third highest goal scorer in UEFA Champions League history, the third top goal scorer in all European competitions and he also won the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2004, beating Deco and Ronaldinho.
His reputation as a deadly striker and apparent close friendship with Roman Abramovich saw Chelsea fork out a hefty £30.8m to bring him to Stamford Bridge, in the process breaking the record for transfer fees paid for a forward.
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But like many others before him, he simply failed to adjust to life in the Premier League, scoring a measly 14 goals in 51 appearances in his first season for the club.
His failure can be attributed to the fact that he was apparently not a Jose Mourinho signing, but an Abramovich one, with Mourinho not too keen on paying such a hefty fee for a 30-year-old.
The arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2008 saw him leave on loan, back to the club where he initially made his name, AC Milan. But he never managed to recapture the form that saw him hailed as one of the best strikers of the game, ending his career in native Ukraine with Dynamo Kyiv.
#5 Fernando Torres
One common theme in this list is the fact that most of the names mentioned here are strikers. For some reason, Stamford Bridge seems to hold a curse for forwards, becoming a graveyard for most that made their way there. With the exception of Didier Drogba and now Diego Costa, not many have found success as a striker at Chelsea in the recent past.
Fernando Torres was no exception. Once the most expensive British transfer in history, he transferred to Chelsea from Liverpool for an eye-watering £50m in January 2011.
His list of achievements certainly warranted such a fee, with the Spanish hitman on fire for Liverpool, scoring 81 goals in just 142 appearances. He had also won the European Championships with Spain and was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI twice, in 2008 and 2009.
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Considering that he went on to win an FA Cup, a Champions League and a Europa League with Chelsea, it seems that it would be a bit harsh to criticise his move, but his stats say otherwise. The Spaniard scored only 45 goals in 172 appearances for the Blues, a far cry from the potential he showed at Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
His move to Chelsea seemed to coincide with the loss of the explosive pace that had made him such a feared forward, with a distinct lack of goals frustrating both managers and fans alike.
He was eventually sent out on loan to AC Milan and after a pretty poor first half of the season, which saw him score only one goal, he was sent out to his boyhood club Atletico Madrid.
