The HUGE list of wonderkids Chelsea have signed under Todd Boehly

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 1 Sept 2023 16:15 BST
• 5 min read

Chelsea were renowned for their incredible pulling power and financial muscle under Roman Abramovich, with the Russian billionaire pumping money into the Stamford Bridge club, which ultimately led to their Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021.

However, he was removed from his post as Chelsea owner in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and American billionaire Todd Boehly took his place as the owner of the club.

The spending that Chelsea had become known for showed no signs of stopping during Boehly’s first transfer window at the helm, with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly coming through the door, while they spent even more in January, breaking the British transfer record on Enzo Fernandez along the way.

MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

But, the majority of Blues’ spending hasn’t been focused on established stars, like it was previously, and the impact of Paul Winstantley has been huge.

The former Brighton head of recruitment was appointed as Director of Global Talent and Transfers at Chelsea in November last year, and he has helped the club identify some of the best young prospects in world football.

Winstanley has been helped by academy manager Neil Bath, who was a key factor in Chelsea’s ‘Vision 30’, which was launched last year.

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‘Vision 30’ involves Chelsea scouting and recruiting some of the best young talents in the world to compliment the Blues’ academy side and to push on and improve the first-team.

The project has five main targets, which was passed onto Mauricio Pochettino ahead of the 2023-24 season:

- 15% of Premier League minutes to be from academy players

- 25% of the first-team squad to be from the academy

- To have above national average GCSE and A Level results

- To have more academy players in the professional game than any other academy

- To win more national and international competitions than any other academy

So far, ‘Vision 30’ has seen Chelsea dive into the transfer market and spend large transfer fees on unproven stars with high potential. However, the sale of Lewis Hall to Newcastle does threaten that first target, with the burden now likely falling on Levi Colwill, Reece James and Conor Gallagher, should he remain at the club, to pick up minutes.

Chelsea signings aged 23 or under since Todd Boehly became owner in 2022

* Kendry Paez will join Chelsea in 2025 when he turns 18.

** Dujuan 'Whisper' Richards will join Chelsea in November 2023 when he turns 18.

The start of 'Vision 30' began last summer, with Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Gabriel Slonina and Omari Hutchinson all arriving in 2022.

The aforementioned Fernandez then became the most expensive player in Premier League history when he joined Chelsea in January, but he wasn't the only player to move to Stamford Bridge halfway through the 2022/23 season.

Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana also joined the club in January 2023.

The Blues have invested heavily into this plan and it doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon.

Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Djordje Petrovic, Deivid Washington, Angelo Gabriel, Diego Moreira, Alex Matos and Ishe Samuels-Smith have all joined Chelsea in the 2023 summer transfer window.

Chelsea have paid an initial €116m to sign Caicedo, but that figure could reach €133m if achievable add-ons are met, meaning it's likely to become the most expensive deal in British transfer history, eclipsing the fee the Blues paid for Enzo in January.

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