From Abraham to Ake: How Chelsea have made a fortune selling fringe players
Paul Macdonald
- 21 Jul 2022 12:19 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea’s ability to generate maximum revenue from the market from fringe players or even young talent that has never featured has been a key driver in funding their transfer business over the past few seasons.
Their policy of stockpiling players was controversial but, like other Premier League clubs, this has evolved into the marketability of vibrant talent that have an associated value because of who scouted them and who they play for.
The likelihood that Armando Broja will leave in a deal worth in excess of €35m despite only having played seven Premier League minutes for the club offers an insight into how lucrative this market has been for the Blues.
Let’s take a look at other great deals Chelsea have brokered of late.
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Tammy Abraham (2021, Roma, €40m)
Abraham has proven himself to be a worthy forward in Serie A but he was never likely to make the grade and be a regular starter at Chelsea, and so the €40m earned for a player who had spend much of his time out on loan was a brilliant piece of business all round.
Abraham may well turn out to player of regular England quality but at the time, it was a logical deal and Chelsea utilised their position to extricate maximum value.
Marc Guehi (2021, Crystal Palace, €23.5m)
Guehi never played a first team minute for Chelsea’s senior side but his high reputation, plus performances on loan at Swansea, prompted Crystal Palace to pay a significant sum for someone lacking any top-flight experience.
Guehi was consistently excellent in his first season at Palace but unlike Fiyako Tomori, who was a valuable sale but perhaps would have had a part to play in Thomas Tuchel’s current side, it appears unlikely that Guehi would have played for Chelsea and so the fee was a good one.
Mario Pasalic (2020, Atalanta, €15m)
Pasalic’s deal could be described as a perfect transfer for all parties; Atalanta got a good price for a player who had value for them, while Chelsea picked up a not-unreasonable fee for a midfielder light years away from ever playing for them.
Chelsea signed Pasalic in 2014 yet he spent that full period out on loan, and in the end the Blues picked up six times what they had paid for him.
Nathan Ake (2017, Bournemouth, €23m)
Ake may have went on to move to City and indeed Chelsea have been looking at buying him back just this summer, but given the level of experience the player had at the time, the fee of €23m was extraordinary.
Ake had made fleeting, sporadic appearances for Chelsea’s first team and spent much of his time away from the club. Though he was highly rated and has been proven to be a solid player, the sum received justified another smart piece of business for a player who cost just €800k.
Papy Djilobodji (2016, Sunderland, €9.5m)
Djilobodji was never good enough for Chelsea, and indeed never good enough for English football, but Chelsea were still able to earn three times what they paid for him when selling him to Sunderland in 2016.
Chelsea arguably excel most at extracting value in and around this fee, where it all mounts up over time. The likes of Christian Atsu, Patrick Bamford and Bertrand Traore all collected similar amounts, despite it being clear they would never play for the club.
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Premier League
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Marc Guéhi
Mario Pasalic
Nathan Aké
Papy Djilobodji
Tammy Abraham
