Chelsea have spent some incredible amounts of money in recent years.
And for the most part of the Roman Abramovic era, money has got them exactly the players they wanted. They’ve signed legends since he arrived, for some big cash.
But it’s not always worked out for them, sometimes the bids fail. Sometimes the players they want get even better offers, sometimes clubs won’t let their players leave, and sometimes the player simply doesn’t want to pay for Chelsea.
As much as they’ve pulled off some fantastic signings, Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack for example, they’ve missed out on some quality players, let’s take a look at the best of the ones that got away for Chelsea Football Club.
Mourinho wanted to sign Stones during his second spell in charge of Stamford Bridge, but Everton refused to sell. He’s now performing well under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Benatia was offered a contract at Chelsea years ago after a successful trial, but the thought of moving to England scared him so he stayed at Marseille.
They were so keen to sign him that they gave him a tour of Stamford Bridge and the club’s training facilities, but he ultimately decided to join Liverpool because he thought he’d get more opportunities there.
Martial rejected Chelsea, who were offering more money, because a move to Manchester United was his biggest dream.
After lengthy negotiations, David Silva decided in the end that he wanted to join Man City over Chelsea in 2010.
The Brazilian superstar almost moved to both Chelsea and Manchester City before moving to Real Madrid in 2009.
Sergio held talks with Chelsea before moving to Manchester City in 2009, but the move never happened because of the striker’s wage demands.
It’s thought that a deal was close in 2007 for this man but collapsed late on.
Santos’ chairman was alsmost certain that Neymar was going to move to Chelsea in 2012, but he instead stayed put and moved to Barcelona a year later.
Gerrard famously made a massive U-turn in his decision to join Chelsea in 2005, with Jose Mourinho wanting him in midfield with Frank Lampard. He famously helped Chelsea to an important win when he slipped at Anfield in 2014…
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10