Chelsea’s best foreign signings in the Premier League era

Posted on September 2, 2020

Chelsea FC are one of the top-spending clubs yet in the transfer window after facing a transfer ban last summer. The London club has always liked signing superstars from other leagues to get success in the Premier League and European competitions. Being one of the richest club owners, Roman Abramovich has never shied away from spending big in the transfer market.

The Blues have been on a signing spree since Abramovich’s takeover with some signings even going to become the world’s best at Chelsea. Chelsea’s recruitment is arguably one of the best in the world, and most of their signings click, usually foreign signings.

Let us now have a look at the best foreign players Chelsea have signed in the Premier League era.

#3-EDEN HAZARD –

Eden Hazard is now considered as one of the best players in the world, but his journey from a promising talent to a great player happened at Chelsea. The Belgian winger was signed by Chelsea in June 2012 for a reported fee of £32m after he took Ligue-1 by storm. Since then till he left Chelsea last summer, Hazard was the club’s talisman and their creator-in-chief.

The former Chelsea No.10 played for the London club for seven seasons in which he played a total of 352 games in all competitions. He scored 110 goals and provided 92 assists for Chelsea in that time, becoming one of the most creative players in the world. The mesmeric dribbler was a fan favourite at Chelsea despite the rumours linking him to other clubs, as Hazard never failed to produce on the pitch for Chelsea.

With Chelsea, Hazard has won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup once, the EFL Cup once and the UEFA Europa League twice. Individually he has won a lot of Chelsea including Chelsea’s Player of the Year four times, Premier League Player of the Season once, PFA Player’s Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Fan’s Player of the Year once each and Premier League Playmaker of the Season once.

#2-PETR CECH –

Arguably the best goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League, Petr Cech was a wall in between the sticks for Chelsea. The Czech international was signed by Jose Mourinho in 2004, for a reported fee of £7m, which later turned out to be a steal sighting Cech’s performances. The magnanimity of his stature can be known by the fact that he is the goalkeeper with the highest number of clean-sheets in Premier League history.

With him in between the sticks, Chelsea have won almost everything possible at club level and a lot of the credit goes to Cech. He also has the third-highest clean-sheets since 2000, amongst all the goalkeepers in the world. Cech also holds the record for the least number of games to reach 100 clean-sheets, which he did in just 180 games.

With Chelsea, Cech has played a total of 494 games, in which he has 228 clean-sheets and has conceded only 393 goals. In 11 stellar seasons at Chelsea, Cech has won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three EFL Cups, a couple of Community Shields, a Champions League title and a Europa League title.

#1-DIDIER DROGBA –

Arguably one of the greatest players in Premier League history for Chelsea, Didier Drogba has been a great servant for the club. Drogba was signed by Jose Mourinho in 2004 for a reported fee of £24m, which was the club record fee back then. It is also said that Mourinho was offered to get in any player in the world, including Ronaldinho, but the manager chose Drogba instead, which paid off.

Didier Drogba was one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League and was unstoppable on his day, irrespective of the opposition. The Ivorian was a complete striker who had speed, shooting accuracy, aerial prowess and could also link up the play. He played nine seasons with the Blues, in which he played 381 games and scored 164 goals and provided 86 more.

He also scored with one of the most important kicks of the ball for Chelsea, when he converted the penalty to make them the Champions League winner. With Chelsea, Drogba won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the EFL Cup thrice, the Community Shield twice, and the 2011/12 Champions League.

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