5 transfers that should never have happened in the Premier League

By the time Chelsea signed him, Andriy Shevchenko was past his prime

#3 Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea

The ultimate example of what can go wrong when a club chairman simply wields too much power. In his pomp, Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko was one of the best and most prolific forwards in the world - a player that any manager would’ve loved to have had in his squad. By the summer of 2006 though, at the age of 30, it was clear that Shevchenko’s best days were behind him.

Evidently, though, nobody told this to Chelsea chairman Roman Abramovich, who bought Shevchenko in May 2006 and handed him to manager Jose Mourinho like an overly expensive Christmas present. It seemed clear instantly that Mourinho didn’t really want Shevchenko, and didn’t need him either given he already had a prolific striker in Didier Drogba.

And so Shevchenko was used sparingly in the Premier League – just 22 starts – and his goal record was relatively poor too, as he only got four league goals, and 14 in all competitions. It was as if – shock horror – he was a player past his prime. Which of course he was, to anyone not named Abramovich.

Shevchenko lasted one more season at Chelsea and only played 17 league games, scoring even fewer goals too, a meagre total of five. He ended up going back to his old haunts of AC Milan – on loan - and Dynamo Kiev, where he ended his career in 2012. His Chelsea run remains a blip on a great career and he’ll go down as one of the Blues’ worst ever signings.