Ranking the 10 most disappointing Chelsea signings of the last decade

It's fair to say that Chelsea have had a relatively hit-and-miss record in the transfer market in recent years.

There have been some extraordinarily successful purchases; the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa come to mind. But there have also been some very questionable decisions made by the club in the transfer market, with huge sums of money spent on players who have provided little or no return. While some of these players were unable to justify their price tag, others barely featured on the pitch for the team.

So here we take a look at 10 such disappointing signings made by Chelsea in the past decade:

#10 Filipe Luis

Luis was unable to seal a regular starting spot for Chelsea

The Brazilian defender moved from Atletico Madrid to Chelsea in the summer of 2014 for around £16 million.

Luis was a regular starter for Atletico, helping them win La Liga and reach the final of the Champions League in 2014. His form was noticed by many top European clubs and Chelsea quickly snapped him up.

But the left-back was unable to make a similar impact at Chelsea. He was able to muster just 15 Premier League appearances for the Blues in the 2014/15 season. His time in England then came to an abrupt end despite winning the league under Jose Mourinho.

He returned to Atletico Madrid the following season and was ever-present again for the La Liga giants before moving back to his native country with Flamengo in 2019.

#9 Davide Zappacosta

Zappacosta was not able to seal a starting place in his first season at Chelsea

Signed in the summer of 2017, Davide Zappacosta was a £25 million right-back who failed to seal a starting place in the team in his first season. He was only able to show flashes of his brilliance before losing his place entirely in 2018-19.

He played just four games that season and joined Roma on loan next season, only to rupture his ACL after his first league appearance. He was able to play a part for Roma post-lockdown and was sent on loan again the following season to Genoa.

Zappacosta has returned to Chelsea this summer, but clearly has no future under Thomas Tuchel as the club look to sell the right-back.

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#8 Abdul Baba Rahman

Rahman is still on the clubs books after making 25 appearances in six years

Chelsea signed Abdul Baba Rahman back in 2015, hoping to resolve their left-back issues by replacing Filipe Luis with him in Jose Mourinho's squad.

Six years later and he is still on their books, having made just 25 appearances for the Blues. Now 27, he has been on loan to Schalke, Reims and Mallorca, spending most of his season watching on from the sidelines at the Spanish club due to injury.

He was sent on loan again to PAOK Thessaloniki FC in Greece during the January transfer window but is back at the club again this summer for pre-season training.

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#7 Papy Djilobodji

The Senegalese made just one appearance for the club before going out on loan

The Senegalese defender was signed by Chelsea in 2015 for a reported fee of £4 million from Nantes. However, he didn't last long at Stamford Bridge.

Djilobodji made just one appearance for the club, a one-minute cameo against Walsall in a League Cup win in September 2015.

He was subsequently loaned out to Werder Bremen before being sold to Sunderland, where he was released in 2018 following a breach of contract. He now plays his football in Turkey with Gaziantep FK.

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#6 Juan Cuadrado

Cuadrado failed to make an impact during his short-time at Chelsea

Chelsea signed Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina in January 2015 for £23.3 million, with the deal also seeing the then Blues forward Mohamed Salah going the other way on loan.

Despite the hefty fee, Cuadrado never made a huge impact in his six months at Stamford Bridge, scoring no goals and providing a solitary assist in his 15 appearances at Chelsea.

The winger was sent to Juventus on loan for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 season, before The Old Lady made the deal permanent in the summer of 2017 for £17 million.

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#5 Marko Marin

Marin was unable to live upto the expectations at Chelsea

Marko Marin was signed from Werder Bremen in 2012, but failed to make an impact at Chelsea.

Dubbed the "German Messi", the £7 million man was nowhere near the level of quality or consistency that was desired of him. The winger made just 16 first-team appearances for the Blues before being sent out on numerous loan deals.

The German international eventually left Stamford Bridge in 2016, signing for Greek side Olympiacos.

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#4 Danny Drinkwater

Drinkwater has made just 30 appearances for Chelsea since his arrival in 2017

Very few people had praised Danny Drinkwater for Leicester City's Premier League triumph in 2016, yet Chelsea opted to reunite him with Kante anyway, signing him for £35 million in the summer of 2017. But things have not gone according to plan for the former Leicester man. The player has gone on to make just 30 appearances for the club since his arrival.

He didn't play a single minute of Premier League football under Maurizio Sarri in 2018/19, with his only appearance coming in the Community Shield.

The midfielder was subsequently loaned out to Burnley (one hour on the pitch and one injury after a nightclub fight) and Aston Villa (four appearances and one disciplinary action after headbutting a teammate) in the 2019/20 campaign.

He was sent out on loan again to Turkish side Kasimpasa during the January transfer window, where he made 11 appearances before returning to the club this summer.

Chelsea are now looking to offload the midfielder permanently but it will be difficult to find suitors for a player who has barely played any football in the last three years.

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#3 Tiemoue Bakayoko

Bakayoko failed to live up to expectations in his first season at Chelsea

Chelsea completed the signing of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco in 2017, for a deal worth £40 million. The midfielder arrived with a big reputation after being part of a Monaco side who won Ligue 1 ahead of cash-rich PSG.

But the midfielder failed to impress during his 43 games for the club, earning criticism from fans and pundits for his performances in a Chelsea shirt.

The £40 million signing looked decent at times, especially when asked to attack the box from deep, but he never lived up to his billing as a top holding player who would strengthen the Blues' backline.

The midfielder has had loan spells at AC Milan, Monaco and Napoli and has been put up for sale this summer, having managed to play just one full season at Stamford Bridge.

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#2 Fernando Torres

Torres was a shadow of his former self at Chelsea

Chelsea's signing of Fernando Torres is one of those deals that is now associated with deadline day transfers.

The Blues signed the striker from Liverpool in January 2011 for a then-British record fee of £50 million. Torres was a goal-scoring machine for the Reds but that all changed when he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

He scored just 45 goals in 172 appearances for Chelsea, with a total of eight Premier League goals in the 2012/13 season being his best return in a single campaign.

The forward went on loan to AC Milan and Atletico Madrid before being sold to the latter in 2016.

Although he was not brilliant for Chelsea, fans are likely to remember his crucial goal against Barcelona in the semi-finals of their Champions League winning campaign in 2012.

#1 Alvaro Morata

Morata never fully settled in at Chelsea

Chelsea broke their transfer record in 2017 to bring Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for a fee of £60 million. He was supposed to be a perfect fit for Chelsea, having shown glimpses of his talent at both Real Madrid and Juventus. But the striker failed to properly settle at Stamford Bridge.

Morata scored 11 goals in 31 appearances in his first Premier League season, but was in and out of the team for the first half of 2018-19. He was eventually loaned out to Atletico Madrid in the second half of the season.

The loan deal was made permanent by Atletico in the summer of 2019 and Morata has since openly admitted how he didn't enjoy his short time at Stamford Bridge.