From Havertz to Loftus-Cheek: How Chelsea's summer sales are performing this season

Cameron Smith

• 29 Mar 2024 12:03 GMT
• 6 min read

Chelsea’s ludicrous spending under Todd Boehly has seen the Blues purchase some of the best young talents in world football for ludicrous sums.

Both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez moved to Stamford Bridge for over €115 million in 2023, while Mykhailo Mudryk cost an initial €70m despite racking up less than 50 senior appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk.

However, as a result of this insane spending in the transfer market, the Blues were forced to offload several stars during the 2023 summer window, with Mauricio Pochettino overseeing a complete overhaul in west London.

READ MORE: Chelsea's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

The fruits of Chelsea’s summer business have begun to pay off - with the €47m capture of Cole Palmer the most notable example of this - but how have the players they sold started the 2023-24 campaign?

Below, FootballTransfers runs through how every Chelsea sale has performed so far this season.

READ MORE: How much have Chelsea spent on transfers under Todd Boehly?

Kai Havertz - €75m to Arsenal

Kai Havertz’s start to life at Arsenal didn't quite go as planned, with only one goal in his first x Premier League appearances for the Gunners.

However, he has now found his feet and Mikel Arteta has found a home for the Germany international as a central striker. Havertz has proven himself to be a key player for Arsenal, although he is still yet to justify his insane €75m price tag.

Mason Mount - €64.2m to Man Utd

Selling Mason Mount to Manchester United for €64.2m has been a huge success from a Chelsea perspective.

There were doubts regarding Erik ten Hag’s ability to extract the best of Mount and Bruno Fernandes in the same starting XI, and the opening few weeks of the season with the pair in the same midfield was disastrous.

However, things have taken a turn for the worse regarding Mount since then. He has been constantly injured and his appearance off the bench versus Liverpool in the FA Cup in March was his first outing since November.

Mateo Kovacic - €29.1m to Man City

Mateo Kovacic wasn’t signed as a like-for-like replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, but the Croatian was purchased to add control to Manchester City’s midfield.

His start to life under Pep Guardiola hasn’t been particularly noteworthy or headline-grabbing, but Kovacic has been an astute squad depth addition and clearly fits the bill as a stereotypical Guardiola midfielder.

Kalidou Koulibaly - €23m to Al-Hilal

Al-Hilal are top of the Saudi Pro League and are currently unbeaten after 24 league games. Kalidou Koulibaly has been a key reason why they have only conceded 13 goals (the least in the division), while he has also scored twice and assisted once.

Chelsea don’t exactly miss the Senegal international, but he has certainly made a difference in Saudi Arabia. A move that has worked out for all parties.

Christian Pulisic - €20m to Milan

Cole Palmer (26) is the only Chelsea player with more goal contributions in all competitions than Christian Pulisic (20) this season.

The American has typically been a more dangerous proposition on the left wing, but Rafael Leao’s presence means he’s been forced to play as a right winger this campaign and he has already matched his previous career best tally of goals and assists in a single season.

Pulisic has been an amazing signing for Milan and Chelsea may well regret this sale considering Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk's struggles in 2023-24.

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 21, 2023

Edouard Mendy - €18.5m to Al-Ahli

Edouard Mendy has played every single minute available for Al-Ahli since his summer move from Chelsea, keeping 12 clean sheets and conceding 29 goals in 26 matches.

He’s been a very useful addition for the Saudi Pro League side, who sit third in the league, but Djordje Petrovic has proven himself to be a very able 'keeper at Stamford Bridge, so Chelsea don't exactly miss the Senegal international.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek - €18.4m to Milan

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been a bargain buy for Serie A giants Milan. The Englishman has excelled at San Siro, with his most notable performance coming against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stage.

He ran the show that night and it wasn’t his only impressive display of the campaign so far.

In total, Loftus-Cheek has netted five times and provided two assists in 34 Milan matches, while his ability to drive the ball up the pitch via his dribbling has been a major addition to the Italian's squad. This has been a brilliant buy and Loftus-Cheek would certainly have been a useful player for Chelsea to use this campaign.

Ethan Ampadu - €8.1m to Leeds

Ethan Ampadu has unsurprisingly been an excellent addition at Leeds United. The Welshman was impressive during two loan stints in Italy and he deserved a Premier League move last summer.

However, Leeds sealed an €8.1m deal and that fee already looks like a bargain. Ampadu has been a stalwart in both central midfield and central defence at Elland Road and he has remarkably played every single minutes available in all competitions since joining the club.

After starting the season in midfield, Ampadu moved back into a centre-back role in January and he has been Leeds' on-field captain ever since that position change.

Callum Hudson-Odoi - €3.5m to Nottingham Forest

Callum Hudson-Odoi was signed for a snip by Nottingham Forest and his first permanent season away from Chelsea has been encouraging.

He scored a lovely goal on his debut in a 1-1 draw against Burnley and he netted in three consecutive Premier League matches in February.

Hudson-Odoi has only missed four matches due to injury this season, which is encouraging, and he is a regular at Forest.

N’Golo Kante, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Cesar Azpilicueta were among a host of free transfer departures during the summer, but seeing as Chelsea did not fetch a fee for them, they have not been included as they technically aren’t ‘sales’.