Cuadrado deal takes Chelsea’s transfer spend to highest levels for a decade as player sales reach all-time record
If you thought Uefa’s financial fair play rules were going to curb Roman Abramovich’s spending at Chelsea, think again.
Following the signing of Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina for £29.4m, the Blues’ total spend on transfer fees for the season has reached £123.3m. Chelsea have not spent as much in a single season for 10 years.
In fact, only in the first two years of the Abramovich era have the West London club spent more in a single campaign. The £147.4m spent in the Russian’s first season in charge (2003/2004) still remains the figure to beat, while the following year’s £142.5m has not been topped since.
Jose Mourinho was given £93.9m to play with in the summer, the large majority of which went on Diego Costa (£33.4m) and Cesc Fabregas (£29.04m). Only two clubs – Liverpool and Manchester United – spent more. But unlike Mourinho, neither Louis van Gaal nor Brendan Rodgers have been permitted to add to their squads this January. Only Manchester City have forked out more this window.
Uefa state that the the aim of FFP rules, which limit a club’s permitted losses and have been in place since 2011, “is not to make all clubs equal in size and wealth, but to encourage clubs to build for success rather than continually seeking a ‘quick fix’.” Yet Chelsea, who have so far acted completely in accordance with FFP, are still dipping into the transfer market before their own academy. The Blues’ expenditure has actually been steadily increasing over the last four seasons.
Yet as Mourinho’s receipt has steadily increased, so has the amount of money coming into the club’s coffers. While Chelsea may be the second-biggest spenders this season, they are the undisputed biggest sellers, having made a whopping £116m from player sales.
The current league leaders have made big profits on players such as David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku and Andre Schurrle, sold for £43.6m, £31.1m and £28.2m respectively. More players have walked through the Stamford Bridge exit door than anywhere else this season, with a staggering total of 44 temporary or permanent departures from the club across the two transfer windows.
in the football calendar, and the source of frenzied excitement for fans.
Explore our interactive to find out who’s spending big during the window and who’s using the month to make some money.
- Gabriel Paulista (Villarreal CF)
£17,600,000 - Krystian Bielik (Legia Warszawa)
£2,740,000
- Benik Afobe (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
£0 - Joel Campbell (Villarreal CF)
Loan - Yaya Sanogo (Crystal Palace)
Loan - Matt Macey (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Lukas Podolski (Inter Milan)
Loan (fee: £528,000)
- Carles Gil (Valencia CF)
£3,700,000 - Scott Sinclair (Manchester City)
Loans
- Daniel Johnson (Preston North End)
£0 - Michael Drennan (Shamrock Rovers)
£0 - Antonio Luna (Spezia Calcio)
Loan - Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Jordan Graham (Wolves)
£0
- Michael Keane (Manchester United)
£2,250,000
- n/a
- Juan Cuadrado (AC Fiorentina)
£29,390,000
- André Schürrle (VfL Wolfsburg)
£28,160,000 - Fernando Torres (AC Milan)
£2,640,000 - Marko Marin (RSC Anderlecht)
Loan - Stipe Perica (Udinese Calcio)
Loan - Ulises Dávila (Vitória Setúbal FC)
Loan - Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading FC)
Loan - Tomás Kalas (Middlesbrough FC)
Loan - Todd Kane (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Lewis Baker (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Mark Schwarzer (Leicester City)
£0 - Alex Kiwomya (Barnsley )
Loan
- Jordon Mutch (Queens Park Rangers)
£5,580,000 - Pape Souaré (LOSC Lille)
£4,690,000 - Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal FC)
Loan
- Stuart O’Keefe (Cardiff City)
£942,000 - Andy Johnson (Released)
£0 - Alex Wynter (Colchester United)
£0 - Jack Hunt (Rotherham United)
Loan - Jake Gray (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Jimmy Kébé (Unattached)
Released
- n/a
- Samuel Eto’o (UC Sampdoria)
£0 - Christopher Long (Brentford FC)
Loan - John Lundstram (Leyton Orient)
Loan - Ben McLaughlin (Telford United)
Loan - Hallam Hope (Bury)
£0
- n/a
- Calaum Jahraldo-Martin (Alloa Athletic FC)
Loan
- Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka)
£7,920,000 - Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea)
£0 - Robert Huth (Stoke City)
Loan
- Adam Dawson (Bristol Rovers)
Loan - Adam Smith (Mansfield Town)
Loan - Jack Barmby (Rotherham United)
Loan - Tom Hopper (Scunthorpe United)
Loan - Callum Elder (Mansfield Town)
Loan
- n/a
- Oussama Assaidi (Al-Ahli Club)
£0 - Oluwaseyi Ojo (Wigan Athletic)
Loan - Jack Dunn (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Kevin Stewart (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Lloyd Jones (Cheltenham Town)
Loan
- Wilfried Bony (Swansea City)
£31,810,000
- Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa)
Loan - Bruno Zuculini (Córdoba CF)
Loan - Chidiebere Nwakali (FC Málaga)
Loan - George Evans (Scunthorpe United)
Loan - Kelechi Iheanacho (Atlético Malagueño)
Loan - Devante Cole (Milton Keynes Dons)
Loan - Matija Nastasic (FC Schalke 04)
Loan
- Victor Valdés (Unattached)
£0 - Sadiq El Fitouri (Salford City)
£0
- Michael Keane (Burnley)
£2,250,000 - Anderson (Sport Club Internacional)
£0 - Ben Amos (Bolton Wanderers)
Loan - Joe Rothwell (Blackpool FC)
Loan - Will Keane (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Sam Johnstone (Preston North End)
Loan - Ben Pearson (Barnsley)
Loan
- n/a
- Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (AS Roma)
£6,470,000 - Davide Santon (Inter Milan)
Loan - Hatem Ben Arfa (OGC Nizza)
£0 - Adam Campbell (FC Gateshead)
Loan - Callum Roberts (FC Gateshead)
Loan
- Mauro Zárate (West Ham United)
Loan
- Jordon Mutch (Crystal Palace)
£5,580,000 - Josh Laurent (Brentford FC)
£0
- Filip Djuricic (SL Benfica)
Loan - Eljero Elia (Werder Bremen)
Loan
- Jos Hooiveld (Millwall FC)
Loan
- Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Loan
- Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union)
£0 - Robert Huth (Leicester City)
Loan - Tomi Adeloye (Macclesfield Town)
Loan - George Waring (Barnsley)
Loan
- Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC)
£0
- Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC)
£0 - David Ferguson (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Connor Oliver (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Charalampos Mavrias (Panathinaikos Athens)
Loan - Mikael Mandron (Shrewsbury Town)
Loan - Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United)
Loan
- Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur)
£5,810,000
- Wilfried Bony (Manchester City)
£31,810,000 - Ashley Richards (Fulham FC)
Loan - Alan Tate (Crewe Alexandra)
Loan
- n/a
- Kyle Naughton (Swansea City)
£5,810,000 - Kenny McEvoy (Colchester United)
Loan - Milos Veljkovic (Charlton Athletic)
Loan - Dominic Ball (Cambridge United)
Loan - Grant Hall (Blackpool FC)
Loan
- Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic)
£5,590,000
- Luke Daniels (Scunthorpe United)
Loan
- Doneil Henry (Apollon Limassol)
£1,670,000 - Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical FC)
£1,170,000
- Blair Turgott (Coventry City)
£0 - Jamie Harney (Colchester United)
£0 - Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical FC)
Loan - Sean Maguire (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Mauro Zárate (QPR)
Loan - Nathan Mavila (Wealdstone FC)
Loan - Paul McCallum (Portsmouth FC)
Loan - Ricardo Vaz Tê (Akhisar Belediye Genclik ve Spor)
Loan
All data courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk