Chelsea are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in world football presently. Ever since the Premier League began in 1992 and following the subsequent takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2004, the club’s profile has been inching steadily upwards.
Since the Premier League era began in 1992, the Blues have signed more than their fair share of strikers. From Mark Hughes down to Alvaro Morata, a dizzying variety of frontmen with different attributes have arrived for some very high fees.
There have been huge successes, Didier Drogba was a snip for the £24 million the Blues paid for him in 2005, while Diego Costa was majestic for the side, bulldozing his way to two Premier League titles in 3 and a half seasons. Other successes include Hernan Crespo, Jimmy Floyd-Hasslebaink, Nicholas Anelka amongst others.
Then there have been the let-downs (quite a few actually!). Adrian Mutu’s drug issues meant that the fans never got to see just how good he could have been while the jury is still out on Morata.
Here is a look at 5 quality strikers who were brilliant elsewhere but failed to deliver whilst at Chelsea:
#5 Carlton Cole (2001-2006)FA Cup: Chelsea v Huddersfield Town
One of the few English strikers to have worn the colours of Chelsea in the Premier League era, the Nigerian-born player never got going in the blue shirt.
Despite spending six seasons on the club’s books following his promotion from the club’s academy, Cole only played two full seasons at Stamford Bridge before being let go to join West Ham in the 2006-2007 season.
#4 Mateja Kezman (2004-2005)
A lot was expected of Mateja Kezman, the then Yugoslavian pocket dynamo, following his transfer to Stamford Bridge from Dutch giants PSV.
Pacy, direct with a low centre of gravity and deadly finishing, it was expected that the pocket dynamo would be tailor-made for the helter-skelter world of English football.
He had scored 35 goals in the 2002/2003 season in the Eredivisie as PSV won the title and seemed the goleador that the Blues really needed to kick-start the Roman Abramovich era.
#3 Claudio Pizarro (2007-2008)
The summer of 2007 was one of the strangest transfer windows that Chelsea had had in the Premier League era. That season, the likes of Tal Ben Haim, Pizarro, Steve Sidwell were brought in to reinforce the team that had finished 2nd to Manchester United in the previous season. The giant Peruvian had been one of Europe’s best strikers during his time at German club Werder Bremen where he became the club’s record goalscorer and the highest foreign goalscorer in Bundesliga history.
#2 Andriy Shevchenko (2006-2009)
It was never going to work out for the Ballon d’Or winner at Stamford Bridge.
The Ukrainian prior to his move to Stamford Bridge had been one of Europe’s deadliest strikers. Playing in the Red and Black of AC Milan, Shevchenko’s pace, trickery, ruthless finishing and world-class abilities had made him a household name
In the summer of 2006, Abrahmovic decided that it would be a good idea to get the Ukrainian to ply his trade in the Premier League. A fee of £30.8 million was paid and Shevchenko joined to the delight of the club’s fans.
#1 Fernando Torres (2011-2015)
It had to be the Spaniard, didn’t it? Quite how Torres’ Chelsea career turned out the way it did is a mystery that till today is difficult to explain.
Before his ill-fated time at Stamford Bridge, El Nino had been one of Europe’s most deadly strikers. During his time with boyhood club Atletico Madrid and later on with Liverpool, he was a sight to behold.