26 games in 8 years: Big-money Chelsea flop FINALLY leaves

Tom Weber

• 3 Jul 2023 12:59 BST
• 3 min read

Abdul-Rahman Baba is set to leave Chelsea after making just 26 appearances in eight years for the club.

It's the end of an era: One of the biggest flop signings in Blues history will leave Stamford Bridge this summer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. Abdul-Rahman Baba is set to have his contract terminated by mutual agreement before making a free transfer switch to Greek side PAOK.

The Ghanaian arrived in London in the summer of 2015 off the back of an impressive season in Germany. His five assists from left-back helped to propel middling Augsburg up to their best-ever finish in the Bundesliga as they came in a surprising fifth that saw them qualify for the Europa League.

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Chelsea paid an initial €20 million for the then-21-year-old, with the deal potentially rising as high as €26m. It proved to be a misjudged piece of business. Baba never came to grips with life at Stamford Bridge and, in fact, he rarely ever featured at Chelsea's home ground.

26 appearances in eight years

Baba leaves the Blues having made just 26 first-team outings in his eight years at the club. Most of those eight years were spent out on loan.

Three spells at Schalke in the Bundesliga, two at Reading in the Championship and one each at PAOK, Mallorca and Stade Reims paint a picture of a disjointed career that has not gone to plan.

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Indeed, as a senior player, Baba made more appearances for Reading than any of his permanent clubs. His 49 appearances for the Royals are more than he made at Greuther Furth where he started his career in Europe, Augsburg or Chelsea.

Baba was relegated to League One with Reading last term and he will look to get his career back on track at PAOK. At 29, it is not over for him, but the chance to play at the highest level was spurned. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) currently sits at €1.1m - in 2017, he was worth €20.2m.