Chelsea have had some of football's most talented players on their books, with the likes of Didier Drogba and Gianfranco Zola leading their attack.
However, in their 118-year history, the blue side of London have seen some of the world's best players slip through their fingers.
Therefore, we at Football FanCast have compiled a list of 11 players Chelsea should never have sold.
11 Oriol Romeu to Southampton – £5m (2015)
Spanish midfielder Oriol Romeu joined Chelsea at just 19 years old from Barcelona in 2011, but in his four-year stint at Stamford Bridge, he failed to ever break into the first team, making only 33 appearances and going out on loan twice (to Stuttgart in Germany and Valencia in Spain) before moving to Southampton in 2015.
Nevertheless, since leaving the Blues the 32-year-old has gone on to have an illustrious career.
During the 2016/17 season, Romeu completed the third most tackles in the Premier League (117), only behind N’Golo Kante and Idrissa Gueye, furthermore between the 2016/17 and 2018/19 campaigns the Barcelona youth academy graduate was the Saints' top tackler, showing just how crucial he was to their side.
To make things worse for Chelsea, after leaving Southampton for Girona in 2022 Romeu has returned to his boyhood club where he has continued to impress.
10 Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool – £12m (2013)
Despite only being 34, today Daniel Sturridge is more commonly found appearing for Sky Sports’ punditry team. However, after leaving the Blues over a decade ago the striker became one of the Premier League's most prolific strikers.
The Englishman spent four seasons with Chelsea, making 63 appearances (32 off the bench), but he was only able to score 13 goals and in his final season, he only managed one goal. This led to his £12m January transfer to Liverpool, where his career took off.
After his move, Sturridge scored goals 10 in 11 starts and during his first full campaign in 2013/14 the Premier League winner netted 21 times and formed one of the most iconic partnerships in the leagues with Luis Suárez.
Perhaps Chelsea and previous owner Roman Abramovich would have been smart to hold onto the two-time Champions League winner, as since the departure of Drogba and then Diego Costa they have struggled to find a star striker.
9 Juan Cuadrado to Juventus – £17m (2017)
Chelsea paid £23.3m for winger Juan Cuadrado in 2015, however, the Colombian only ever made 13 appearances, of which only four starts, furthermore he never scored during his spell with the club. This means that he cost the five-time Premier League Champions £5.83m for every start the winger made.
Following a return to Italy on loan with Juventus (just seven months after moving to England) the 35-year-old criticized Chelsea for not giving him a chance.
He said to the Evening Standard: "I don't think I was given enough opportunity to show what I can do, but that's football. I'm happy to be back being a protagonist with Juventus."
And maybe Cuadrado was right, as after making his move to Juventus permanent in 2017, he went on to play 314 times for the Old Lady, scoring 26 goals and assisting 59 times, while also winning 11 trophies.
8 Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan – £25M (2021)
Fikayo Tomori first joined Chelsea in 2005 and worked his way up from just Under-8s level, all the way to the first team, where he made 27 appearances.
However, after 16 years in London, the centre-back permanently left the club, after his loan move to AC Milan was made permanent.
Since moving to Italy, the Canadian-born defender has excelled. During his first full season with the Rossoneri, Tomori won Milan’s first Serie A title in 11 years, while also making the team of the season.
It may be that Chelsea regrets selling the 25-year-old, with the squad being remade under the ownership of Todd Boehly, the blue side of London lacks some much-needed leadership and experience, which Tomori could have provided.
7 Tammy Abraham to Roma – £34m (2021)
Tammy Abraham had a very similar career path to Tomori, joining Chelsea at just seven years old, the striker worked his way up to the first team, where he made his debut at just 18 years old.
The England international broke into the Chelsea first team during the 2019/20 season under manager Frank Lampard, and in 34 league appearances, the 25-year-old scored 14 goals and finished the season as the Blues’ top scorer.
However, only a year later Abraham was sold to Roma, after a disappointing 2020/21 campaign where he scored just six league goals.
Since moving to Roma, the Chelsea academy graduate has shown his boyhood club what they could have had, scoring 36 goals in 107 games and winning the UEFA Europa Conference in 2022.
6 Declan Rice to West Ham – Released (2014)
Declan Rice never made it into Chelsea’s first team and was dropped from their youth set-up at just 14 after joining in 2006.
This led the England international to join London rivals West Ham, where he became a club legend.
In his eight years with the Hammers Rice made 241 appearances and became the club's captain, and in his final game for West Ham in 2023, he won the Europa Conference League, which was the London club’s first trophy since 1980.
Although the 24-year-old received interest from Chelsea after leaving, he eventually moved to bitter rivals Arsenal for a record £105m, leaving the Stamford Bridge outfit wondering how they let him get away.
5 Jamal Musiala to Bayern Munich – £172k (2019)
Jamal Musiala has emerged as one of Europe’s brightest young stars since breaking into the Bayern Munich first-team during the 2020/21 season.
Since leaving London the 20-year-old has already won four German League titles and a Champions League, on top of this he has been nominated for the 2023 Golden Boy – which is awarded to the best U21 player in Europe.
This prompted Golden Boy founder Massimo Franchi to reveal that he thought Musiala could have been integral to Chelsea.
Speaking to TZ he said:
"That FC Bayern took him from Chelsea almost for free was incredibly smart. An incredible loss for Londoners.
"It would be like the Louvre losing the Mona Lisa!"
According to Football Transfers, the German international is now worth £82.2m, meaning if Munich were to sell the former Chelsea academy player, they could make at least a £82m profit.
4 Arjen Robben to Real Madrid – £30m (2007)
Arjen Robben left PSV and moved to Chelsea in 2004 for £16m, however, he was out the door just three years later after only making 67 league appearances, scoring 15 goals and providing 16 assists.
After Leaving England, the winger moved to Real Madrid, where he again had an unsuccessful spell and was sold to Bayern Munich after two years.
But this move to Germany proved to be the making of the former Dutch international, as he became one of the world's best players.
The 39-year-old spent 10 seasons in Germany, where he made 309 appearances, scored 144 goals and made 101 assists, while also winning eight German League titles, a Champions League, and Bundesliga Player of the Year.
Proving to Chelsea and Real Madrid what they missed out on.
3 Eden Hazard to Real Madrid – £130m (2019)
Eden Hazard has to go down as a Chelsea club legend, he was voted Chelsea’s Player of the Year a record four times and won two Premier Leagues and two Europa Leagues while making 352 appearances and scoring 110 goals.
Unfortunately, the fairy tale came to an end in 2019 as the winger sealed his dream move to Real Madrid.
However, this move saw his career come off the rails, after numerous injuries and only 54 league appearances, the 32-year-old's contract was terminated with a year to go, and he is yet to find a new club.
This has left Chelsea, their supporters, and probably Hazard wondering what would have happened if he had stayed in London.
2 Mohamed Salah to Roma – £12.75m (2016)
It is unlikely that anyone in 2016 would have believed you if you had suggested that Mohamed Salah would become the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history or break the record for most Premier League Player of the Month awards in a single season.
However, he has certainly proved his doubters and Chelsea wrong.
The Premier League winner struggled while at Chelsea, only playing 19 times and scoring twice, meaning that he has scored more goals against the Blues than has for them, with seven in 21 appearances against the two-time Champions League winners.
Speaking to GQ in 2022 the Egyptian revealed the pressure was too much for him while at Chelsea.
He said:
“It was so tough for me, mentally. I couldn’t handle the pressure I had from the media, coming from outside.
“I was not playing that much. I felt, ‘No, I need to go’.
“You have two choices: to tell the people that they are right to put you on a bench or to prove them wrong.
“I needed to prove them wrong.”
