The 10 most expensive Chelsea sales of all time: Noni Madueke to Arsenal 6th

Few topics have been discussed as fervently in the football world of late as Chelsea’s spending since their current owners took charge.

The west London club forked out over £1 billion on new arrivals just three transfer windows into the Clearlake Capital era, and the long list of costly Stamford Bridge additions isn’t slowing down.

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. Juan Mata – £37.1 million

• Year: 2014
• To: Manchester United
• Appearances: 135
• Goals: 33

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.

9. Ian Maatsen – £37.5 million

• Year: 2024
• To: Aston Villa
• Appearances: 16
• Goals: 0

Chelsea sold Dutch wing-back Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa in the summer of 2024 for £37.5 million.

Maatsen impressed while on loan with Borussia Dortmund the previous 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.

8. Nemanja Matic – £40 million

• Year: 2017
• To: Manchester United
• Appearances: 151
• Goals: 7

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.

7. David Luiz – £50 million

• Year: 2014
• To: Paris Saint-Germain
• Appearances: 143
• Goals: 12

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.

6. Noni Madueke – £52 million

• Year: 2025
• To: Arsenal
• Appearances: 92
• Goals: 20

Brought to the Premier League for the sum of £28.5m in January 2023 after making his name as an English talent abroad with PSV, Madueke scored 20 times for Chelsea over a two-and-a-half-year spell.

But the winger left five years ahead of his scheduled contract when Chelsea accepted a bid by Arsenal in the summer of 2025.

Arsenal paid a base sum of £48.5m for Madueke, with add-ons potentially taking the deal up to £52m in value.

5. Diego Costa – £57 million

• Year: 2017
• To: Atletico Madrid
• Appearances: 120
• Goals: 59

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 – £60 million

• Year: 2023
• To: Manchester United
• Appearances: 195
• Goals: 33

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 in 2023, as the then-24-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 first two seasons blighted by injuries.

READ MORE: Every Premier League club’s most expensive sale of an academy product, including Mount for Chelsea

3. Oscar – £60 million

• Year: 2017
• To: Shanghai SIPG
• Appearances: 203
• Goals: 38

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 spent eight seasons playing for Shanghai, winning three league titles and one cup.

2. Kai Havertz – £65 million

• Year: 2023
• To: Arsenal
• Appearances: 139
• Goals: 32

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, he 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 – £100m

• Year: 2019
• To: Real Madrid
• Appearances: 352
• Goals: 110

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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