The 10 most expensive Chelsea sales of all time, featuring Man Utd and Real Madrid raids

Few topics have been discussed as fervently in the football world of late as Chelsea’s recent spending.

The west London club have forked out over £1 billion on new arrivals over the last two years, with the £54 million signing of Pedro Neto from Wolves the latest in a long list of costly Stamford Bridge additions.

But the Blues have also proven themselves to be savvy sellers in the transfer market, too, often fetching substantial fees for players they are willing to offload.

Here are the 10 biggest sales in Chelsea’s history.

10. Tammy Abraham to Roma – £35 million

After developmental loans with Bristol City, Swansea and Aston Villa earlier in his career, Tammy Abraham finally got his chance to stake a claim for a first-team future at Chelsea during the 2019-20 season.

And the Cobham academy graduate didn’t disappoint, scoring 15 goals in 34 Premier League appearances under club legend Frank Lampard.

But the England striker followed that campaign with a mediocre return of just six league goals the next term. And after Lampard was replaced by Thomas Tuchel mid-season, the lanky forward fell from favour.

Roma swooped to take Abraham to Italy in the summer of 2021, and he has remained at the Stadio Olimpico ever since, scoring 37 goals in 120 all-competitions appearances.

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9. Juan Mata to Manchester United – £37.1 million

Juan Mata was Chelsea’s reigning back-to-back Player of the Year when he suddenly found himself surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge upon Jose Mourinho’s return to the club in 2013.

After half a season on the bench, the gifted Spanish technician sought new pastures, and Manchester United were willing to pay a then-club-record £37.1 million fee for his signature in January 2014.

Mata became the second major arrival of David Moyes’ brief Old Trafford tenure. The Scottish boss was sacked before the end of the campaign, but Mata lasted much longer. He finally left the club in 2022 after 285 appearances and 51 goals.

8. Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa – £37.5 million

The most recent sale on this list, Chelsea sold Dutch wing-back Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa this summer for £37.5 million.

Maatsen impressed while on loan with Borussia Dortmund last season, helping the Bundesliga side reach the final of the Champions League. In the prior campaign, the flying young defender had shone on loan with Burnley as they cruised to promotion from the Championship.

The 22-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from PSV as a teenager in 2018 and made just 12 league appearances for the club before Villa pounced and the Blues cashed in.

7. Nemanja Matic to Manchester United – £40 million

Serbian midfield enforcer Nemanja Matic left Chelsea to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United in 2017. And despite the fact the powerful former Benfica star was nearing his 29th birthday at the time, the Blues were able to secure a fee rising to £40 million.

Matic had been a pillar of Mourinho’s third Premier League title-winning side at Stamford Bridge. And while he wasn’t able to match that feat at Old Trafford, he still racked up 189 appearances for the Red Devils, before joining up with the charismatic Portuguese boss for a third time at Roma.

6. David Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain – £50 million

Occasionally magnificent, often erratic and always unpredictable, David Luiz was a rollercoaster of a player across two spells with Chelsea.

The Blues initially acquired the Brazilian defender from Benfica for £21.3 million in January 2011. Three and a half years, one Premier League title and two FA Cups later, they sold the wild-haired Selecao star to Paris Saint-Germain for a staggering £50 million.

Then, in the summer of 2016, Chelsea re-signed Luiz for £35 million. He played another 105 games over three seasons in his second Stamford Bridge stint before a surprise £8 million move to Arsenal in 2019.

5. Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid – £57 million

A controversial figure for much of his time at Stamford Bridge thanks to his industrial – yet effective – style of forward play and penchant for playacting, Diego Costa was nonetheless one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League at his peak.

Acquired from Atletico Madrid for £32 million in the summer of 2014, the Brazil-born Spain international scored 59 goals in 120 games across a three-and-a-half-season spell with the Blues that included a Premier League triumph in his maiden campaign.

After a fallout with manager Antonio Conte, he returned to Atletico in January 2018 for £57 million – a staggering fee considering he hadn’t played for six months after being banished by Chelsea’s fiery Italian tactician.

4. Mason Mount to Manchester United – £60 million

A long-time jewel of the Cobham academy, Mason Mount became the first product of Chelsea’s vaunted youth system to truly establish himself in the Stamford Bridge first team since John Terry when he made his breakthrough under Lampard in the 2019-20 season.

The England midfielder went on to play almost 200 times for the club he’d joined as a six-year-old, playing a key role in the Blues’ Champions League triumph under Tuchel in 2021.

But Mount’s long association with Chelsea finally came to an end last summer, as the 25-year-old joined Manchester United in a deal worth up to £60 million. Mount has yet to replicate his Chelsea form thus far at Old Trafford, with his debut season blighted by injuries.

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3. Oscar to Shanghai SPIG – £60 million

Chelsea unearthed a gem when they signed diminutive Brazilian playmaker Oscar from Internacional in the summer of 2012.

The Selecao midfielder established himself as one of the most effective and stylish creative midfielders in the Premier League over his first four seasons in London.

But when cash-rich Chinese side Shanghai SIPG came in with a £60 million bid for the then-25-year-old midway through the 2016-17 season, it was an offer the Blues couldn’t refuse.

And while many of the expensive stars acquired by Chinese Super League clubs have fled since the bottom fell out of the division several years ago, Oscar is still playing for Shanghai, winning two league titles and one cup.

2. Kai Havertz to Arsenal – £65 million

Kai Havertz will forever be remembered fondly at Stamford Bridge due to the fact he scored the winning goal for the Blues in the 2021 Champions League final.

But following his £71 million arrival from Bayer Leverkusen in 2020, the versatile German attacking midfielder struggled to consistently meet expectations with Chelsea.

After scoring 32 goals and providing 12 assists in 139 appearances across three seasons at Stamford Bridge, Havertz was sold to Arsenal in 2023 for £65 million.

Slotting into a false nine role at the Emirates, the 25-year-old produced his best league goals return since moving to England in his first campaign with the Gunners, scoring 12 goals to fire Arsenal’s run to a second-place finish.

1. Eden Hazard to Real Madrid – £100m

A true Stamford Bridge legend, it was only fitting that when Chelsea eventually parted ways with Eden Hazard, the Belgian’s departure fetched a club-record return of £100 million.

Hazard joined the Blues from Lille for £32 million in June 2012, shortly after the west Londoners had claimed their first Champions League title.

The supremely gifted winger went on to play 352 games for the club over season seasons, winning two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and being named the PFA Player of the Year for the 2014-15 campaign.

Beset by injuries following his 2019 move to Madrid, Hazard would play just 76 games for Los Blancos before announcing his retirement at the age of 32 in 2023.

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