Hundreds of millions of pounds has been spent across various leagues this summer.
Chelsea are one of the teams to spend big with four additions to the squad. Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Alvaro Morata have all become Chelsea players this summer.
With the spending at an all-time high, we take a look at Chelsea’s most expensive XI ever. To keep it simple, it will be a standard 4-4-2 formation, and all fees have been taken from Transfermarkt.
GK: Petr Cech – £11.7 million
Chelsea’s most expensive goalkeeper is Petr Cech.
Cech signed for the Blues in the summer of 2004 from French side Rennes and dislodged Carlo Cudicini as the first-choice keeper.
The Czech international would spend the next 11 years at Stamford Bridge, winning every possible competition. Cech left the club in 2015, after losing his spot to Thibaut Courtois.
RB: Jose Bosingwa – £18.45 million
Jose Bosingwa is the Blues’ most expensive right back of all time.
Joining from Porto in 2008, the Portuguese spent the next four years at Stamford Bridge, spending most of the time as Chelsea’s first-choice right back.
Bosingwa made 89 appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea across four seasons and scored three times. He left the club in 2012, after helping Chelsea to win the 2012 Champions League.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – £31.5 million
The first of three new summer signings in this team, Antonio Rudiger is one of Chelsea’s most expensive defenders.
Joining from AS Roma in the summer, the German international made his Premier League debut against Burnley. Rudiger’s Chelsea career has only just begun, and he will hope to be worth the vast sum the Blues paid for him.
CB: David Luiz – £31.5 million
Upon rejoining the club last summer, David Luiz became one of Chelsea’s most expensive players.
In his first stint, Luiz was criticised for his often rash defending. He left the club in 2014 to sign for PSG in a deal worth £50 million, but Chelsea brought him back last year.
Following the formation change to 3-4-3, Luiz has revolutionised his career and has received plaudits for his defensive displays last season. In the middle of the back three, he helped Chelsea to the 2016/17 Premier League title and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.
LB: Marcos Alonso – £20.7 million
The left back is Marcos Alonso, who signed for the club in 2016 from Italian side Fiorentina.
A regular for Fiorentina, Alonso also had Premier League experience before signing for Chelsea. The 26-year-old spent a few seasons at Bolton Wanderers, as well as a loan spell at Sunderland.
Like David Luiz, Alonso benefitted from the formation change, where the Spaniard became the first choice left wing-back and scored six goals as Chelsea lifted the Premier League title.
RM: Willian – £31.95 million
Willian makes the team and is one of Chelsea’s most expensive players.
While completing a medical for Tottenham, Chelsea swooped in and stole the player under the noses of their London rivals, joining from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala.
Since making his move from Russia in 2013, Willian has become a key player and was named as Chelsea’s Fans’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year during the 2015/16 season.
CM: Michael Essien – £34.2 million
The first midfielder is Michael Essien, who joined the Blues in 2005 from Lyon.
Essien was an important player for Chelsea during his spell at Stamford Bridge, helping the club win two Premier League titles, as well as four FA Cups. He made 168 league appearances for Chelsea and scored 17 times.
Individually, he won Chelsea Player of the Year in 2007, and won Chelsea Goal of the Year twice; in 2006/07 and 2008/09, for his goals against Arsenal and Barcelona respectively.
CM: Tiemoue Bakayoko – £36 million
The second summer signing in this team, Tiemoue Bakayoko is one of Chelsea’s most expensive players.
Chelsea forked out a lot of money on the Frenchman and will hope that he will be a worthy addition to the squad. He made his debut away at Tottenham in a 2-1 victory for the Premier League champions at Wembley.
LM: Eden Hazard – £31.5 million
Eden Hazard is also ranked as one of the club’s most expensive players after joining from Lille in 2012.
Since making the move, Hazard has been one of Chelsea’s best players, as he has helped the Blues to two Premier League titles.
He has been named Chelsea Player of the Year on three occasions and named in the PFA Team of the Year four times. During the 2014/15 season, he was also named PFA Players’ Player of the Year, as well as FWA Footballer of the Year.
ST: Fernando Torres – £52.65 million
Chelsea’s second-most expensive player is Fernando Torres.
A clinical scorer at Liverpool, Torres joined Chelsea in January 2011 for a then-record fee. Unfortunately for Torres and Chelsea, the Spaniard never hit the heights he did at Liverpool, only scoring 20 goals in 110 league appearances.
However, despite his lack of goals in a Chelsea shirt, he will be remembered for his last-minute equaliser against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final in 2012, which helped Chelsea book a place in the final.
ST: Alvaro Morata – £58.5 million
The third summer signing and the final player in this team is Alvaro Morata.
Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign Morata from Real Madrid. Last season in Spain, he scored 15 goals in 26 La Liga appearances, which was enough for Antonio Conte to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
Morata made an instant impact on his debut for the Blues. With Chelsea 3-0 down to Burnley on the opening day of the season, the striker came off the bench. In his first league appearance for Chelsea, the 24-year-old scored and set up a goal for Luiz, helping the Blues pull it back to 3-2.
