Every wonderkid Chelsea have signed under Todd Boehly

Cameron Smith

• 9 Sept 2024 17:49 BST
• 5 min read

Chelsea were renowned for their incredible pulling power and financial muscle under Roman Abramovich, with the Russian billionaire pumping significant money into the Stamford Bridge club.

This vast investment ultimately led to their Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021.

However, he was removed from his post as Chelsea owner in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took his place at the helm.

READ MORE: Premier League summer transfers 2024 - All the Done Deals

The spending that Chelsea had become known for showed no signs of stopping during their first transfer window in charge, with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly coming through the door, while they spent even more in January 2023, breaking the British transfer record on Enzo Fernandez along the way.

However, the majority of Blues’ spending hasn’t been focused on established stars, like it was previously, and the impact of Paul Winstanley and Joe Shields has been huge.

Winstanley, Brighton & Hove Albion's former head of recruitment, was appointed as Director of Global Talent and Transfers at Chelsea in November 2022, and he has helped the club identify some of the best young prospects in world football.

READ MORE: Chelsea Transfer News LIVE

Winstanley was a key factor in Chelsea’s ‘Vision 30’, which was launched upon Clearlake Capital’s arrival.

‘Vision 30’ involves Chelsea scouting and recruiting some of the best young talents in world football in order to complement the Blues’ academy set-up and improve the first-team.

The project has five main targets.

- 15% of Premier League minutes to be from academy players

- 25% of the first-team squad to be from the academy

- To have above national average GCSE and A Level results

- To have more academy players in the professional game than any other academy

- To win more national and international competitions than any other academy

So far, ‘Vision 30’ has seen Chelsea dive into the transfer market and spend large transfer fees on unproven stars with high potential.

Every Chelsea signing aged 23 or under since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali became owners in 2022

* Estevao will join Chelsea in 2025 when he turns 18.

** Kendry Paez will join Chelsea in 2025 when he turns 18.

*** Mike Penders will join Chelsea in 2025.

In total, Chelsea have spent €957.8m on players aged 23 or under since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali arrived in 2022.

Chelsea's wonderkid signings

The start of 'Vision 30' began in Boehly’s first summer, with Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Gabriel Slonina and Omari Hutchinson all arriving at Stamford Bridge.

The aforementioned Fernandez then became the most expensive player in Premier League history when he joined Chelsea in January 2023.

Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana also joined the club during the same transfer window.

Six months later, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Djordje Petrovic, Deivid Washington, Angelo Gabriel, Diego Moreira, Alex Matos and Ishe Samuels-Smith all arrived.

Jamaican youngster Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards subsequently joined the club when he turned 18 in late 2023.

The Blues’ pursuit halted in January 2024, with no new signings during the month, but they continued their youth revolution with the additions of Omari Kellyman, Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley, Filip Jorgensen and Aaron Anselmino during the 2024 summer transfer window.

In addition, South American pair Estevao and Kendry Paez, and Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders will all join Chelsea in 2025.