Chelsea's five worst January transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• 24 Jan 2025 23:30 CST
• 4 min read

Chelsea have spent heaps of money since 2000 and they have understandably had their fair share of transfer flops as a result.

The Blues have typically strengthened well in the market, but a number of winter arrivals have certainly not lived up to expectations.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Chelsea’s five worst January transfers of all time.

READ MORE: Chelsea's five most expensive January transfers of all time

Jiri Jarosik - €8m (from CSKA Moscow, 2005)

Jiri Jarosik was a complete waste of money and his move to Chelsea went fairly disastrously.

He arrived from CSKA Moscow in January 2005 and amassed just 20 first-team appearances for the Blues before being loaned to Birmingham City for the entirety of the 2005-06 campaign.

Jarosik was then sold to Celtic for just €3.5m.

READ MORE: Chelsea's five best January transfers of all time

Fernando Torres - €58.5m (from Liverpool, 2011)

Fernando Torres enjoyed some brilliant moments at Chelsea, including his historic goal against Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League final, but he simply failed to live up to his price tag.

The Spaniard arrived at Stamford Bridge for a British record transfer fee, yet injuries had hampered the end of his time at Liverpool, and Chelsea overpaid massively.

He took nearly 1,000 minutes to score his first goal for the Blues and he was never able to fully nail down a place as Chelsea’s undisputed first-choice striker.

Lucas Piazon - €7.5m (from Sao Paulo, 2012)

Big things were expected of Lucas Piazon when he left Brazil to join Chelsea for €7.5m in January 2012.

However, he simply wasn’t good enough to play regular first-team football in the Premier League.

Piazon made just three senior appearances for Chelsea and he was loaned out to seven different clubs before joining Braga on a permanent deal in 2021.

Juan Cuadrado - €31m (from Fiorentina, 2015)

The signing of Juan Cuadrado made very little sense at the time, and his spell at Chelsea confirmed such fears.

The Blues’ attacking unit was already extremely impressive back in early 2015 and although Cuadrado had impressed at Fiorentina, he was unable to oust Willian for a starting berth on the right flank.

Cuadrado made just 15 first-team appearances for Chelsea and he was loaned to Juventus after only six months at Stamford Bridge. The Serie A giants eventually signed him on a permanent deal for €20m in 2017 and he established himself as a key player in Turin.

Mykhailo Mudryk - €70m (from Shakhtar Donetsk, 2023)

Mykhailo Mudryk could still justify Chelsea’s huge outlay, but his start to life in England hasn’t gone particularly well.

The Blues were forced to pay an initial €70m to hijack Arsenal’s move for Mudryk in January 2023 and he failed to score until his 24th appearance for the club.

Mudryk only mustered 18 Premier League starts during his first full season at Chelsea, while he was provisionally suspended from football in December 2024 after a positive doping test.