Roman Abramovich has put Chelsea up for sale and Football Italia looks at the Serie A players who joined the Blues during his reign at Stamford Bridge: from Hernan Crespo to Romelu Lukaku.
The Russian businessman acquired the Premier League side for barely £60m in 2003 and, in less than 20 years, he turned it into one of the most successful clubs in England and in Europe. Claudio Ranieri was the coach in charge during Abramovich’s first season in London, but the Rome-born tactician was replaced after just one year by an exciting emerging coach who had just won the Champions League with Porto: José Mourinho.
Abramovich’s Chelsea era began and ended with Serie A stars. Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu moved to London from Inter and Parma in the first transfer window under the Russian businessman in the summer of 2003. Chelsea paid €26m for the Argentinean and €22.5m for the former Romania international, but they both struggled in London although for different reasons. The Premier League giants even terminated Mutu’s contract in 2004 after testing positive for cocaine use.
The Abramovich era ended with another Inter forward, Romelu Lukaku, who moved to the club for €113m last summer. The 28-year-old has also failed to impress this term, having scored just 10 goals in 29 appearances.
Many other Serie A stars failed to justify their price tag at Chelsea. Among them, Torino‘s Davide Zappacosta, Fiorentina‘s Juan Cuadrado and even Milan‘s Andriy Shevchenko. Gonzalo Higuain flopped during his six-month loan in 2019 and the same goes for Ricardo Quaresma in 2009. The Portugal international only played four games with the Blues.
Other signings definitely had a better impact at Chelsea. Jorginho won four trophies, including one Champions League and one Club World Cup since his €57m move from Napoli in 2018. He was also named Player of the Year in 2021. Antonio Rudiger had signed with Chelsea two years earlier and has collected 187 cames since, winning five trophies. His ex-Roma teammate Emerson Palmieri hasn’t been a regular starter over the last few seasons but won two European trophies before his Lyon loan last summer. The same goes for Marcos Alonso, who is still part of the team after a €23m transfer from Fiorentina in 2016.
Abramovich’s arrival in England heralded the beginning of the end of Serie A’s power.
Yes, the cracks were there in the late 90s, but he changed the balance of power for good.
I remember how shocking it was that Crespo would go to Chelsea in his prime – something that would be impossible before.
Since then the leagues have been flipped on their heads, with Serie A taking in the ageing rejects from England, and the epl taking the best from Serie A – the exact opposite of how it used to be.
You are absolutely correct @ Ferban. A complete reversal of fortune – instigated by a RUssian Oligarch. IT probably would have happened anyway but Abramovich fuel injected the PL with cash and ‘glamour’.