Keeping pace with Chelsea’s volume of signings and lavish outlay has been a dizzying business since American Todd Boehly’s takeover of the club was confirmed on May 31, 2022.
Former owner Roman Abramovich transformed Chelsea into one of European football’s financial heavyweights when the Russian bought them in 2003, and their spending has been supercharged under the leadership of new billionaire owner Boehly and his investment group.
Chelsea narrowly eclipsed the routine highest spenders, Manchester United, in the 2022 summer transfer market, with their total spree in that period just over £251 million ($305m), and net investment of almost £206m ($250m), both representing the highest figures in the Premier League.
Here’s how much Boehly has spent in total, who is in charge of their transfers and more — starting with a full list of signings since his arrival.
MORE: Who is Todd Boehly and what happened to Roman Abramovich?
Chelsea transfers in the Todd Boehly era
After a relative drought during the first months of Boehly’s ownership, Chelsea made nine signings in under two months before the 2022 summer transfer window closed, and added eight more in the winter window, to take their season total to 18 players at the end of January.
Alongside their summer Premier League record, the Blues also set a new winter transfer window spending record, of £291.65m/$356.95m.
The 2023 summer window is not expected to include as much investment but the Blues have secured a £52/$66m deal for French international Christopher Nkunku.
Players IN
| Date | Player | Position | Fee |
| July 13, 2022 | Raheem Sterling | Forward | £47.5m / $57.6m |
| July 16, 2022 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Defender | £33m / $40m |
| Aug. 3, 2022 | Gabriel Slonina | Goalkeeper | £8m / $9.7m |
| Aug. 4, 2022 | Carney Chukwuemeka | Midfielder | £20m / $24.3m |
| Aug. 5, 2022 | Marc Cucurella | Defender | £57.5m / $69.8m |
| Aug. 19, 2022 | Cesare Casadei | Midfielder | £13.3m / $16.1m |
| Aug. 31, 2022 | Wesley Fofana | Defender | £70m / $84.9m |
| Sept. 2, 2022 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang |
Forward | £10.3m / $12.5m |
| Sept. 2, 2022 | Denis Zakaria | Midfielder | £2.7m / $3.2m (loan fee) |
| Dec. 29 2022 | David Datro Fofana | Forward | £10.6m / $12.9m |
| Jan. 5, 2023 | Benoit Badiashile | Defender | £33.7m / $40.9m |
| Jan. 6, 2023 | Andrey Santos | Midfielder | £11.1m / $13.5m |
| Jan. 11, 2023 | Joao Felix | Forward | £9.7m / $11.8m (loan fee) |
| Jan. 15, 2023 | Mykhailo Mudryk | Forward | £62m / $75.8m |
| Jan. 20, 2023 | Noni Madueke | Forward | £30m / $38m |
| Jan. 29, 2023 | Malo Gusto | Defender | £26.75m / $32.75m |
| Jan 31, 2023 | Enzo Fernandez | Midfielder | £107.8m / $132m |
| Jul 1, 2023 | Christopher Nkunku | Midfielder | £52/$66m |
| TOTALS | (18 players) | GKs: 1 DFs: 5 MFs: 6 FWs: 6 |
£605.95m / $741.75m |
Players OUT
| Player | Exit date | Transfer Fee | New club |
| Antonio Rudiger | July 1, 2022 | Released | Real Madrid |
| Andreas Christensen | July 1, 2022 | Released | Barcelona |
| Jake Salter-Clarke | July 1, 2022 | Released | QPR |
| Danny Drinkwater | July 1, 2022 | Released | N/A |
| Timo Werner | Aug 8, 2022 | £35m/$32m | RB Leipzig |
| Emerson Palmieri | Aug 26, 2022 | £15m/$19.1m | West Ham |
| Ross Barkley | Aug 29, 2022 | Released | Nice |
| Marcos Alonso | Sep 1, 2022 | Released | Barcelona |
| Billy Gilmour | Sep 1, 2022 | £9m/$11.5m | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| Michy Batshuayi | Sep 2, 2022 | Released | Fenerbahce |
| Tiemoue Bakayoko | August 30, 2022 | Loan | AC Milan |
| Romelu Lukaku | July 1, 2022 | Loan | Inter Milan |
| Levi Colwill | Aug 5, 2022 | Loan | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| Malang Sarr | Aug 10, 2022 | Loan | AS Monaco |
| Jorginho | Jan 31, 2023 | £12m/$15.3m | Arsenal |
| Kalidou Koulibaly | Jun 25, 2023 | £17m/$21.6m | Al Hilal |
| Mateo Kovacic | Jun 27, 2023 | £25m/$31.7m | Manchester City |
| Edouard Mendy | Jun 28, 2023 | £16m/$20m | Al Ahli |
| Kai Havertz | Jun 28, 2023 | £60m/$76m | Arsenal |
| Tiemoue Bakayoko | Jul 1, 2023 | Released | N/A |
| N’Golo Kante | Jul 1, 2023 | Released | Al Ittihad |
Chelsea players signed under Todd Boehly
Gabriel Slonina
- Position: Goalkeeper
- From: Chicago Fire (USA)
- Transfer fee: £8m / $9.7m
Kalidou Koulibaly
- Position: Defender
- From: Napoli (Italy)
- Transfer fee: £33m / $40m
Wesley Fofana
- Position: Defender
- From: Leicester City (England)
- Transfer fee: £70m / $84.9m
Benoit Badiashile
- Position: Defender
- From: AS Monaco (France)
- Transfer fee: £33.7m / $40.9m
Marc Cucurella
- Position: Defender
- From: Brighton & Hove Albion (England)
- Transfer fee: £57.5m / $69.8m
Denis Zakaria
- Position: Midfielder
- From: Juventus (Italy)
- Transfer fee: £2.7m / $3.2m (loan fee until end of 2022-23 season, £30m / $36.7m option to buy)
Andrey Santos
- Position: Midfielder
- From: Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
- Transfer fee: £11.1m / $13.5m
Carney Chukwuemeka
- Position: Midfielder
- From: Aston Villa (England)
- Transfer fee: £20m / $24.3m
Cesare Casadei
- Position: Midfielder
- From: Inter Milan (Italy)
- Transfer fee: £13.3m / $16.1m
Raheem Sterling
- Position: Forward
- From: Manchester City (England)
- Transfer fee: £47.5m / $57.6m
David Datro Fofana
- Position: Forward
- From: Molde (Norway)
- Transfer fee: £10.6m / $12.9m
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
- Position: Forward
- From: Barcelona (Spain)
- Transfer fee: £10.3m / $12.5m
Joao Felix
- Position: Forward
- From: Atletico Madrid (Spain)
- Transfer fee: £9.7m / $11.8m (loan fee until end of 2022-23 season)
Christopher Nkunku
- Position: Midfield
- From: RB Leipzig (Germany)
- Transfer fee: £52 / $66m
How much money has Todd Boehly spent as Chelsea owner?
Part of the sale agreement Boehly entered into, which was ordered by the UK government after Abramovich was sanctioned over his alleged links with Russian president Vladmir Putin, required the part-owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers to provide £1.75 billion ($2.1bn) to Chelsea.
That investment, which comes in addition to buying the club for £2.5bn ($3.2bn), must be made over 10 years.
While the exact amount Boehly has spent so far does not factor in performance-related add-ons, the published and reported figures for the 18 players above brings the sum to £605.95m / $741.75m of the £1.75 billion initially committed (nearly $675.75m of $2.1bn).
- Total spend: £605.95m / $741.75m as of June 26, 2023
Are Chelsea overspending for players?
The numbers of acquisitions and the hefty figures being shelled out have led some to criticise Boehly for his approach, citing his inexperience in football. However, the figures suggest Chelsea underpaid for the talent acquired by around £13.6m compared to fees other clubs were reportedly prepared to pay.
The likes of Raheem Sterling, Benoit Badiashile, Kalidou Koulibaly, Andrey Santos, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (below) all materialised for fees reportedly under figures previously bandied about.
However, Wesley Fofana’s vast price tag was inevitable after the centre-back signed a deal months earlier, contracting him to Leicester City until 2027.
Boehly came in for criticism over the fee paid for Marc Cucurella, even before the full-back’s underwhelming start to his Chelsea career, having a year earlier cost Brighton around a quarter of the fee that took him to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea pipped Arsenal on a key move, offering a bit more to Shakhtar Donetsk for Mykhailo Mudryk, to reach their €100 million valuation.
*Price reportedly agreed by Chelsea before sanctions prevented original transfer deal
**Option price at end of loan
Who is in charge of signing players for Chelsea?
Any football fan familiar with major Chelsea transfers over recent years would have been used to seeing director Marina Granovskaia at the centre of signing photos when the club closed deals.
Granovskaia was known as Abramovich’s “transfer guru” and was regarded as one of the best in the business in European football.
Club goalkeeping legend Petr Cech was also an important part of Abramovich’s team in his role as Technical and Performance Advisor, but Granovskaia, Cech and former chairman Bruce Buck all left the club in 2022 after the takeover by Boehly’s group.
That led to Boehly taking up the role of interim sporting director while Chelsea were in flux, but recent appointments have allowed Boehly to drop the title, and become less directly involved in transfers.
Joe Shields joined in October as Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent, having been Head of Senior Recruitment at Southampton.
Laurence Stewart arrived as Technical Director from Monaco at the same time and was given a brief to focus on “football globally.”
Paul Winstanley oversaw the signing of players including Cucurella during eight years with at Brighton before joining Chelsea in November as Director of Global Talent and Transfers.
Christopher Vivell, who was Salzburg’s head of scouting when they signed Erling Haaland, became Chelsea Technical Director a month after Winstanley was appointed.
🗣️ “I think his greatest asset is his recruitment ability. That’s his bread and butter.”
Jesse Marsch who worked with Christopher Vivell, Chelsea’s new Technical Director says he wishes him the best in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/uRxYysNgzB
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 22, 2022
Vivell described Chelsea as “building the most exciting project in global football”. “There is so much potential for the club to continue to succeed, develop and grow,” he said.