Chelsea, a traditional powerhouse in English football, are known for buying star footballers. The Blues do not think twice if the opportunity presents itself to snap up a talented footballer, as they have shown many times in the past – be it splashing out £50 million ($60m) on Fernando Torres in 2011 or £97.5m ($116m) on Romelu Lukaku in 2021.
And while their expensive strikers have often struggled at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's bold approach to the transfer market has paid off in titles. They are one of the most successful English clubs in the 21st century, winning five of their six league titles since 2005.
When you add two Champions Leagues and a couple of Europa League titles into the mix during that time, you see why they've had to expand the trophy cabinet quite a bit in recent years.
However, Chelsea are not simply a buying club. They are shrewd operators and make quite a bit of money through player sales too.
Indeed, the Blues have a well-earned reputation for acquiring young talented players on the cheap and then selling them for a massive profit much later on.
Indeed, Chelsea have raked in over €1 billion (£840m/$1.01bn) in transfer sales since the turn of the century...
Chelsea biggest transfer sales by season
Season | Biggest sale | Fee | Total sales |
---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | Kai Havertz | £65m | £196m |
2022-23 | Timo Werner | £18m | £51m |
2021-22 | Tammy Abraham | £36m | £108m |
2020-21 | Alvaro Morata | £31.5m | £51.5m |
2019-20 | Eden Hazard | £103.5m | £141.5m |
2018-19 | Thibaut Courtois | £31.5m | £75m |
2017-18 | Diego Costa | £54m | £175m |
2016-17 | Oscar | £54m | £98m |
2015-16 | Ramires | £25m | £78.5m |
2014-15 | David Luiz | £44.5m | £128.5m |
2013-14 | Juan Mata | £40.3m | £70.1m |
2012-13 | Daniel Sturridge | £13.5m | £22.9m |
2011-12 | Yuri Zhirkov | £13.5m | £28.4m |
2010-11 | Ricardo Carvalho | £7.2m | £14.9m |
2009-10 | Claudio Pizarro | £1.8m | £3.4m |
2008-09 | Wayne Bridge | £11.7m | £40.1m |
2007-08 | Arjen Robben | £31.5m | £39.3m |
2006-07 | Damien Duff | £14m | £47.3m |
2005-06 | Tiago Mendes | £9.1m | £31.1m |
2004-05 | Jesper Gronkjaer | £3m | £3m |
2003-04 | Mikael Forssell | £675k (loan fee) | £850k |
2002-03 | Samuele Dalla Bona | £1.4m | £1.9m |
2001-02 | Jon Harley | £4.7m | £12.9m |
2000-01 | Tore Andre Flo | £16.2m | £34m |
Total | £1.40b (Approx) |
*All figures are taken from Transfermarkt unless stated otherwise