It is no longer news that Chelsea have beaten other suitors – sorry, Liverpool – to the signing of one of Germany’s most spectacular youngsters, Timo Werner.
Ignore the snide remarks of jealous troll accounts, Werner is the real deal.
With two games of the 2019/20 season to go, Werner has already bettered the most prolific Bundesliga campaign of his career by five goals.
The question to ask is not why Chelsea signed Werner. It is, how did the Blues get a versatile forward who has netted 26 goals and eight assists in 32 games, for just €53 million in these present times?
Well, Chelsea could have paid more if push came to shove to get their man.
They have done it several times before. Michael Essien. Andriy Shevchenko. Fernando Torres. Big players brought in for big money.
Werner’s transfer fee elevates him into the top ten most expensive players in Chelsea’s history. Soccernet.ng shows you exactly where.
Top Ten Chelsea Record Signings: Where Is Timo Werner?
Kepa Arrizabalaga came to limelight as a member of Spain’s under-19 team that won the 2012 European Championship.
After excelling at Athletic Bilbao, Chelsea paid out €80 million in 2018 to make him the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, breaking the record set by Alisson’s transfer to Liverpool.
Kepa kept six clean sheets in his first 12 games and helped the Blues to glory in the Europa League last year.
Still, he is yet to fully convince many at the Stamford Bridge as a worthy replacement to Thibaut Courtois.
Alvaro Morata began his career at Real Madrid, won the Champions League and moved to Juventus.
In Turin, he won the double of Serie A and Coppa Italia twice before going back to Real Madrid, where he won another Champions League trophy.
Chelsea were thrilled and in 2017 parted with a club-record fee of €66 million to bring the Spanish striker to London.
Twenty-four goals in 72 games later, Chelsea saw Morata wasn’t exactly what they ordered and shipped him on loan to Atlético Madrid. He will join the club permanently on 1 July 2020.
Christian Pulisic was already a star at age 17, making his international debut in 2016 and rising quickly to become the youngest player ever to captain the US national team in the modern era.
His star shone the brightest at Dortmund, where he won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal and convinced Chelsea that he was the best fit for the shoes about to be left behind by Eden Hazard.
And in signing for the Blues, Pulisic became the most expensive American player of all time.
Fernando Torres joined Liverpool in 2007 for a club-record transfer fee, and for a while, there was no striker in England quite like the former Atletico Madrid man.
The Blues fell in love with Torres and signed him in January 2011 for a British record transfer fee of £50 million, which made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.
Torres won the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League at Chelsea.
Despite not being able to inspire the Blues to a Premier League title, Torres enjoyed a prolific spell in London, justifying his big-money transfer before departing for AC Milan.
Born in Brazil, Jorge Luiz Frello Filho became a star in Italy where he helped Napoli win the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana.
And when former Napoli manager, Maurizio Sarri, agreed to join Chelsea in 2018, Jorginho was the player he badly wanted to move with him.
Chelsea obliged and issued a cheque of 57 million euros to convince the Serie A side to part with their prized asset.
Jorginho won the UEFA Europa League in his first season and is now the vice-captain of the club.
And then there’s Timo Werner.
A few days ago, Chelsea announced they had reached an agreement with RB Leipzig to sign the 24-year-old for a sum that automatically shoots him up to sixth on this most expensive list.
In Werner, the Blues have added a prolific goalscorer. Liverpool – the other club close to signing him – would be hurting by now.
The former Stuttgart forward netted 93 goals and made 40 assists in 158 games for Leipzig.
Of course, you don’t stark up such mind-boggling stats unless you know your way to the goal.
Yeah, Tammy Abraham should be a little worried.
Mateo Kovacic is one hell of a football player. You have to be to have been able to play for Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Milan and Real Madrid before turning 26.
But Chelsea were not so sure of what the Croat brings to the table and only brought him to the Stamford Bridge on loan in 2018.
But after impressing last year as Maurizio Sarri’s side went all the way in the Europa League, Chelsea wasted little time in signing the €45 million deal needed to keep him in London for five years.
It seemed like aeons ago when Chelsea made a statement of intent to the football world with the capture of Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan in 2006.
Certainly one of the greatest European strikers in modern times, Shevy made his name at Milan, where he scored 176 goals, the second most prolific player in the history of the Serie giants.
Milan didn’t want their star man to leave but Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, wanted him badly.
The vault was opened, 40 million pounds exchanged hands – a then-record for a player signed by an English club – and the Ukrainian became a Blue.
Nine goals in 48 league games, however, shows that it wasn’t entirely a great time for him in London.
One player Chelsea fans won’t be excited to see on this list is Tiemoue Bakayoko.
The midfielder was a hit at Monaco, playing his part as the French side wowed the world en route to besting PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2016 and reaching the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Every big club made a go for those Monaco stars, with PSG snapping Kylian Mbappe, Man City getting Bernardo Silva, Liverpool pinching Fabinho, etc.
Chelsea got Bakayoko. And that’s for a fee that made him the club’s second most expensive signing at the time, after Fernando Torres.
Let’s just say, he failed to impress.
He’s been on loan to AC Milan and Monaco, and still, none of them would have him permanently.
Bakayoko is contracted to Chelsea until 2022.
But one signing that the Blues fans can’t wait to see on the pitch at the Bridge is Hakim Ziyech.
The Moroccan became a household name over the last couple of years following his exploits in the Eredivisie and the Champions League in the colours of Ajax Amsterdam.
Slight of build, the 27-year-old attacking midfielder is, however, a skilful dribbler and adept at finishing.
Seventy-nine goals and 97 assists in 216 Eredivisie games attest to the creativity of a player who can prove to be a top bargain for €40 million.
This post was last modified on June 21, 2020 6:34 pm
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