With a few days of the summer 2025 transfer window left to run, Chelsea will once again be amongst the biggest spenders in world football. In fact, their current spend – £240 million – will see them rank seventh in the all-time list of highest spending transfer windows.
That in itself is an eye-catching statistic, but one that is made all the more awe-inducing by the fact that the Blues also occupy positions one, five and six in that chart already. By the end of the transfer window, Chelsea could have spent even more – rumours linking the club with Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho persist.
Incredibly, it looks as it Enzo Maresca’s spend will pretty much break even – around £238 million worth of players have been sold, at the time of writing, to ensure that Chelsea have a healthy net spend in the summer of 2025… hopefully that will keep the PSR police from the door for a while.
Here’s a reminder of how Chelsea rewrote the history books when it comes to splashing the cash in the transfer window.
#7 – Summer 2025 (£241 million*)
There’s an asterisk next to that £241 million spend on account of the fact that the Blues, incredibly, may yet decide in the summer of 2025 that they haven’t brought enough new faces in. By our count, eight players have been signed on permanent contracts; meaning that Chelsea now have 33 senior players in their first-team squad.
The biggest chunk of the spending in the summer of 2025 was reserved for Joao Pedro (£55 million), Jamie Gittens (£48 million) and Jorrel Hato (£38 million), whose fees could yet rise based upon performance-related add ons.
Serious cash was also dropped on Liam Delap, Estevao and Dario Essugo, all of whom bolsters the depth in the Blues squad as they look to compete for silverware domestically and in the Champions League. This is, at the time of writing, the seventh greatest outlay from a single club in a transfer window.
#6 – Summer 2022 (£260 million)
Chelsea established themselves as one of the biggest spenders in world football once more in 2022/23. Roman Abramovich had been eased out of the picture, with new owner Todd Boehly determined to stamp his authority on the Chelsea squad.
The likes of Jorginho, Emerson and Timo Werner were sold to create space in the first team set-up for the likes of Wesley Fofana (£70 million), Marc Cucurella (£56 million), Raheem Sterling (£48 million) and Kalidou Koulibaly (£36 million). There was even time for a Deadline Day capture of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was snapped up for a shade over £10 million.
All in all, £260 million was spent on new talent… the Boehly era was well underway. This was the sixth highest transfer window spend by a single club at the time of writing.
#5 – Winter 2023 (£285 million)
And it wouldn’t take long for Boehly to one-up himself. Just months after his summer splurge, the American was at it again – forking out £285 million on new players in the January of 2023 alone. An almighty statement was made with the capture of £105 million man Enzo Fernandez, who was fresh from starring in the winning Argentina team at World Cup 2022.
But that was merely the tip of the iceberg, as Mykhalo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto were amongst those who signed on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge. All told, seven new players joined the club in the winter of 2023; every single one of them aged 22 or younger. This was the fifth largest spend by a club in a single transfer window, as Boehly broke his own personal record – bringing the total spend in 2022/23 to an eye-popping £545 million.
#1 – Summer 2023 (£400 million)
In theory, that splurge in 2022/23 should have set Chelsea up for years to come. But there was a feeling of unfinished business within the club, so Boehly once again dusted off his chequebook – this time, he broke all records as the Blues recorded the single highest transfer window spend in history.
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But this was some of the best recruitment that Chelsea had done in their entire history: Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo joining for a combined £140 million… either one of those players individually would command a fee of that size now.
That window also delivered a first-team goalkeeper in Robert Sanchez, as well as two young midfielders with the potential to be world class in Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu. The likes of Christopher Nkunku and Axel Disasi have perhaps failed to live up to expectations, but all told that summer 2023 spend was a colossal win for Chelsea – and it only cost £400 million for the privilege.