The 2019-2020 season was a somewhat disappointing one for Chelsea. The club were the defending champions of the Europa League, seeing them play out the UEFA Super Cup against Liverpool in the August of 2019, with the Merseyside club, who would go on to win the Premier League, winning 5-4 on penalties after the match itself finished 2-2. The previous season’s achievements in the top-flight meant that they were back in the Champions League, but they were knocked out by Bayern Munich in the round of 16, having emerged from their group in second place behind Valencia and above Ajax and Lille.
The club was managed by former player Frank Lampard, whilst the departure of Eden Hazard in the summer meant that it was the first campaign since 2011-2012 in which the Belgium hadn’t played for the London club. It was, of course, a season that saw major disruption thanks to the global health crisis at the time, with the Premier League pausing for a period of months before resuming behind closed doors. Even do, Chelsea managed to finish fourth in the top-flight and ensure that they would be in the Champions League for the following season, losing 2-1 in the FA Cup final to London rivals Arsenal and being knocked out of the League Cup by Liverpool in the fourth round.
Transfers
It is fair to say that the summer of 2019 was a quiet one for Chelsea in terms of incomings, with only Mateo Kovačić arriving. Admittedly he did end up costing more than £40 million, whilst close to half a million was spent on Bryan Fiabema from Tromsø in the January, but otherwise it was really about the out-goings. Eden Hazard departed for more than £100 million, signing for Real Madrid, whilst David Luis also left the club for Arsenal.
Transfers In
Here is a look at all of the players that Chelsea signed in the summer of 2019 and winter of 2020, complete with the club that they were signed from and the amount that was paid, if known:
| Player | Signed From | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mateo Kovačić | Real Madrid | £40.5 million |
| Bryan Fiabema | Tromsø | £540,000 |
A spend of just shy of £41 million was quite low for Chelsea given the club’s history under Roman Abramovich, but it was felt that the squad was in good shape as a result. Admittedly, most of that was owing to the fact that the club was handed a two-window transfer ban by FIFA after 150 rule breaches.
Transfers Out
It was the out-goings for Chelsea that saw the most action, including some big name departures. Here is a look at what happened:
| Player | Sold To | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Kylian Hazard | Cercle Brugge | Undisclosed Amount |
| Robert Green | Retired | N/A |
| Fankaty Dabo | Coventry City | Free Transfer |
| Eden Hazard | Real Madrid | £103.5 million |
| Ola Aina | Torino | £8.82 million |
| Bradley Collins | Barnsley | Free Transfer |
| Eduardo | Braga | Free Transfer |
| Jay Dasilva | Bristol City | £2.16 million |
| Jared Thompson | Unattached | N/A |
| Victorien Angban | Metz | £5.4 million |
| Tomáš Kalas | Bristol City | £8.1 million |
| Ruben Sammut | Sunderland | Free Transfer |
| Marcin Bułka | Paris Saint-Germain | Free Transfer |
| Renedi Masampu | Whyteleafe | Free Transfer |
| Martell Taylor-Crossdale | Fulham | Free Transfer |
| Daishawn Redan | Hertha BSC | £2.43 million |
| Josimar Quintero | Espanyol B | Free Transfer |
| Todd Kane | Queens Park Rangers | Free Transfer |
| Kyle Scott | Newcastle United | Free Transfer |
| Kasey Palmer | Bristol City | £3.42 million |
| Gary Cahill | Crystal Palace | Free Transfer |
| David Luiz | Arsenal | £7.83 million |
| Kenneth Omeruo | Leganés | £4.5 million |
| Joseph Colley | Chievo | Free Transfer |
| Michael Hector | Fulham | £5.31 million |
| Clinton Mola | Stuttgart | £360,000 |
| Tariq Lamptey | Brighton & Hove Albion | £2.97 million |
Eden Hazard was obviously the biggest money-maker for Chelsea, but the club also around £50 million from the other players that they moved on. There was yet another of the weird transfers between two major Premier League clubs both based in London that tends to happen an odd number of times when David Luiz left for Arsenal. There were also 36 loans out in the summer and winter windows, with Chelsea receiving around £5 million in loan fees for some of the bigger players.
2019-2020 Chelsea Squad
Despite the transfer ban that was imposed on the London club, the squad was in decent nick. Here is a look at how it looked for the 2019-2020 campaign, based on played that made at least one Premier League appearance:
| Player | Number | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | 1 | Spain | Goalkeeper |
| Willy Caballero | 13 | Argentina | Goalkeeper |
| Antonio Rudiger | 2 | Germany | Centre-Back |
| Andreas Christensen | 4 | Denmark | Defender |
| Tariq Lamptey | 48 | England | Defender |
| Reece James | 24 | England | Right-Back |
| Marco Alonso | 3 | Spain | Right-Back |
| César Azpilicueta | 28 | Spain | Right-Back |
| Kurt Zouma | 15 | France | Defender |
| Emerson | 33 | Italy | Defender |
| Fikayo Tomori | 29 | England | Defender |
| Jorginho | 5 | Italy | Defensive Midfield |
| N’Golo Kante | 7 | France | Defensive Midfield |
| Mateo Kovačić | 17 | Croatia | Defensive Midfield |
| Ruben Loftus-Cheek | 12 | England | Midfield |
| Billy Gilmour | 47 | Scotland | Midfield |
| Ross Barkley | 8 | England | Midfield |
| Mason Mount | 19 | England | Midfield |
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | 20 | England | Midfield |
| Christian Pulisic | 22 | United States of America | Midfield |
| Kai Havertz | 29 | Germany | Midfield |
| Tino Anjorin | 55 | England | Midfield |
| Pedro | 11 | Spain | Midfield |
| Tammy Abraham | 9 | England | Forward |
| Michy Batshuayi | 23 | Belgium | Forward |
| Olivier Giroud | 18 | France | Forward |
| Armando Broja | 57 | Albania | Forward |
Kit & Sponsor
As is always the case, Chelsea’s home kit for the 2019-2020 campaign was blue, although it had a faint darker blue pattern mixed in. The kit was manufactured by Nike and the club’s main shirt sponsor was Yokohama Tyres.
The away kit for the season was predominantly white, with blue and red on the trim. The third kit was black with an orange trim.
During the 2019-2020 campaign, the goalkeeper wore an orange kit, with a teal-like second-choice goalkeeper’s kit and three other options to boot. One was black, whilst the other was grey and the fifth was a sort of orangey-red with an orangey-yellow mixed in.
As with the home kit, the goalkeeper’s kits, away kit and third kit were all manufactured by Nike and sponsored by Yokohama Tyres.