The 2018-2019 campaign was the club’s 105th competitive season in English football and their 30th consecutive one playing in the top-flight. It was one of mediocrity on a domestic front, with the London club finishing third in the Premier League in order to qualify for the next season’s Champions League. They were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fifth round, making it to the final of the League Cup where they lost 4-3 to Manchester City on penalties. It was on the European Stage where Chelsea really excelled, however, going on to win the Europa League thanks to a victory in the final over fellow London club Arsenal.
Maurizio Sarri was the Chelsea manager, replacing Antonio Conte after the Italian was sacked on the 13th of July. Sarri’s first competitive game was a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Community Shield. One of the moments of the season, which was perhaps the nail in Sarri’s Chelsea management, came in the League Cup final when he attempted to substitute off Kepa Arrizabalaga for penalty specialist Willy Caballero, only for Kepa to refuse to leave the field. It was later claimed that it was simply a misunderstanding, but Sarri certainly lost his credibly and left for Juventus at the end of the season.
Transfers
Things were relatively quiet for Chelsea on the transfer front, with the big name arrival of the summer being the aforementioned Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for £72 million. The biggest movement in the Chelsea boardroom was in singing a number of players up to new contracts, including Reece James, Fikayo Tomori and Conor Gallagher. Arrizabalaga’s signing was in order to offer goalkeeper cover after the departure of Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid.
Transfers In
Here is a look at all of the players that Chelsea signed in the summer of 2018 and winter of 2019, complete with the club that they were signed from and the amount that was paid, if known:
| Player | Signed From | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Maarsen | PSV Eindhoven | £100,000 |
| Sam McClelland | Coleraine | Undisclosed Amount |
| Pierre Ekwah-Elimby | Nantes | £1.8 million |
| Thierno Ballo | Viktoria Köln | £140,000 |
| George Nunn | Crewe Alexandria | £310,000 |
| Jorginho | Napoli | £51.3 million |
| Robert Green | Huddersfield Town | Free Transfer |
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | Athletic Bilbao | £72 million |
| Lucas Bergström | TPS | Undisclosed Amount |
| Josh Brooking | Reading | Undisclosed Amount |
| Christian Pulisic | Borussia Dortmund | £57.6 million |
The club spent a little over £120 million during the summer transfer window, spending another £57.6 million when Christian Pulisic was brought in from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Not an outrageous amount of money by the standards set in other seasons by Roman Abramovich.
Transfers Out
There was a relatively muted transfer window for Chelsea during the summer and winter of 2018 and 2019. Here is a look at the club’s outgoings:
| Player | Sold To | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Matej Delač | Horsens | Free Transfer |
| Mitchel Beeney | Sligo Rovers | Free Transfer |
| Harvey St Clair | Venezia | Free Transfer |
| Wallace | Unattached | N/A |
| Isaac Christie-Davies | Liverpool | Free Transfer |
| Jonathan Panzo | Monaco | £2.7 million |
| Jordan Houghton | Milton Keynes Dons | Free Transfer |
| Jérémie Boga | Sassuolo | £2.7 million |
| Cole Dasilva | Brentford | Free Transfer |
| Thibaut Courtois | Real Madrid | £31.5 million |
| Tushaun Walters | Greenwich Borough | Free Transfer |
| Cesc Fàbregas | Monaco | £8.1 million |
| Charlie Colkett | Östersund | Undisclosed Amount |
| Joao Rodriguez | Unattached | N/A |
| Charlie Wakefield | Coventry City | Free Transfer |
| Islam Feruz | Retired | N/A |
There were a number of big outgoings for Chelsea in the summer of 2018 and the winter of 2019, mainly the departure of Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid. There were also around 55 loan moves for players, with Chelsea receiving more than £20 million in loan fees. The biggest names to leave on a loan were Kurt Zouma to Everton, Tiémoué Bakayoko to Milan and Álvaro Morata to Atlético Madrid.
2018-2019 Chelsea Squad
The Chelsea squad was considered to be in rude health for the 2018-2019 season, which it needed to be in order to cope with the dual demands of the Premier League and Europa League campaigns, in addition to going deep in the League Cup. Here is how it looked for the season, based on players who appeared at least one in the Premier League:
| Player | Number | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | 1 | Spain | Goalkeeper |
| Willy Caballero | 13 | Argentina | Goalkeeper |
| Antonio Rudiger | 2 | Germany | Centre-Back |
| Andreas Christensen | 27 | Denmark | Defender |
| Davide Zappacosta | 21 | Italy | Defender |
| Gary Cahill | 24 | England | Right-Back |
| Marco Alonso | 3 | Spain | Right-Back |
| César Azpilicueta | 28 | Spain | Right-Back |
| David Luiz | 30 | Brazil | Defender |
| Emerson | 33 | Italy | Defender |
| Jorginho | 5 | Italy | Defensive Midfield |
| N’Golo Kante | 7 | France | Defensive Midfield |
| Mateo Kovačić | 17 | Croatia | Defensive Midfield |
| Eden Hazard | 10 | Belgium | Attacking Midfielder |
| Ruben Loftus-Cheek | 12 | England | Midfield |
| Pedro | 11 | Spain | Midfield |
| Willian | 22 | Brazil | Midfield |
| Ross Barkley | 8 | England | Midfield |
| Cesc Fàbregas | 4 | Spain | Midfield |
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | 20 | England | Midfield |
| Victor Moses | 15 | Nigeria | Midfield |
| Gonzalo Higuaín | 9 | Argentina | Forward |
| Álvaro Morata | 29 | Spain | Forward |
| Olivier Giroud | 18 | France | Forward |
Kit & Sponsor
Chelsea’s kit for the 2018-2019 season was its usual shade of blue, but with thin white and red lines running across the top at various intervals. The kit was manufactured by Nike and sponsored by Yokohama Tyres.
The away kit for the campaign was yellow with a blue trim. The third kit, meanwhile, was mostly grey, with a deeper grey in the main body of the kit.
The goalkeeper’s main kit for the 2018-2019 season was a bright green with darker green sleeves, whilst the second kit was orange and the third kit was predominantly grey.
Following the precedent set by the home kit, the away kits and goalkeeper’s kits were also sponsored by Yokohama Tyres and manufactured by Nike.