Who Failed to Shine When The Most Expensive Signing of Chelsea's Roman Abramovich Era

Roman Abramovich is a figure who is very instrumental in the success of Chelsea. As the owner of Chelsea, the Russian tycoon has poured his personal money into bringing many star players to Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately, Abramovich will soon leave the Blues because it has officially sold Chelsea.
Most of the expensive players that Chelsea brought in during the Roman Abramovich era succeeded in bringing Chelsea achievements. However, there are also some who fail to shine even though they come with big names. Here are the five most expensive players who bought Chelsea during the Roman Abramovich era but failed to shine.

1. Kepa Arrizabalaga
Kepa Arrizabalaga is the second most expensive player Chelsea has ever signed in history. This Spanish goalkeeper was brought in from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 for a price of 80 million euros, aka IDR 1.27 trillion. It also makes Kepa the world's most expensive goalkeeper to date.

With this status, Kepa certainly deserves to be Chelsea's main goalkeeper. He was the first choice in his first two seasons. However, Kepa's performance began to decline in 2019/2020. He was also briefly knocked out of the core squad and replaced by Willy Caballero.

The arrival of Edouard Mendy in 2020/2021 has further reduced Kepa's playing opportunities. Despite recently starting to return to his best form, Kepa has not been able to reclaim the main goalkeeping post. As the world's most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa's career with Chelsea has so far been far below expectations.

2. Alvaro Morata
Alvaro Morata is the fourth most expensive player ever bought by Chelsea. Morata also comes from Spain like Kepa. He joined the Blues in 2017 for 66 million euros, aka Rp. 1.05 trillion. At first, Morata managed to appear sharp with Chelsea.

Morata scored 15 goals in 2017/2018, becoming Chelsea's second top scorer that season. However, Morata's sharpness decreased dramatically in the following season, often wasting golden opportunities.
Morata was also loaned to Atletico Madrid in 2019/2020 and released the following season. In total, Morata's stats with Chelsea are 24 goals in 72 games in all competitions. That number was way below expectations for him as the Blues' main sticker at the time so he deserved to be called a flop.

3. Fernando Torres

This one player also comes from Spain. Fernando Torres is a striker who managed to appear sharp while defending Liverpool. He scored a total of 81 goals in 142 games for Liverpool in all competitions. Therefore, Chelsea did not hesitate to bring him in 2011 with a dowry of 58.5 million euros, aka Rp931 billion.

Unfortunately, Torres failed to display his sharpness with Chelsea as when costumed Liverpool. He defended the Reds until 2014 and only scored 45 goals in 172 appearances for the Blues. Despite failing in terms of sharpness, at least Torres won one trophy with Chelsea, in contrast to when defending Liverpool.

4. Andriy Shevchenko

Chelsea in the Roman Abramovich era was famous for often bringing in famous strikers at high prices. However, many of them ended up stuck. This bad trend has even happened since the beginning of Abramovich's take over Chelsea.

In 2006, Chelsea signed Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan for 43.8 million euros or Rp. 697 billion. Shevchenko arrives with the status of one of the best strikers in the world. However, he failed to perform optimally with the Blues.

Shevchenko only scored 22 goals in a total of 77 games in all competitions with Chelsea. That is far from his record with Milan, which is 175 goals in 322 games. Because of the flop, the Ukrainian striker only stayed at Chelsea until 2009, then finally returned to his country.

5. Michy Batshuayi

Another Chelsea player who was bought at a high price but failed to shine is Michy Batshuayi. Batshuayi is a Belgian striker who was bought by Chelsea from Marseille in 2016. The Blues had to spend 39 million euros or Rp. 621 billion to bring in Batshuayi.

Batshuayi was played quite often in his first two seasons. However, he failed to appear sharp so he was often loaned out to other clubs. In the 2021/2022 season, Batshuayi was loaned from Chelsea to Besiktas. So far, Batshuayi has only made 77 appearances for Chelsea and scored 25 goals.

The five players above are the most expensive players Chelsea have ever signed but failed to shine. After being left by Roman Abramovich, will Chelsea still bring in many expensive players to Stamford Bridge?