Abramovich's Top 10 buys...CR*P!

[Whitey]

I just saw this Independent report about Shevchenko joining Chelski, and there is a really interesting list of Abramocich's "top" signings (see below).

 

Interesting to see the list, and the inflated prices of many players. Makes me realise how much of a minefield it must be for Rafa and Parry. I guess it becomes a case of, if Chelski are in, don't bother because you'll be paying over the odds, or won't get a sniff...

 

And this doesn't even include the kid Mikel at 16M quid...

 

Abramovich's top 10 buys

 

Andrei Shevchenko May 2006, from Milan. £30.8m

 

Michael Essien August '05, Lyon £25.98m

 

Didier Drogba July '04Marseilles £24m

 

Shaun Wright-Phillips July '05, Man City £21m

 

Ricardo Carvalho July '04,Porto £19.85m

 

Damien Duff July '03, Blackburn Rovers £17m

 

Hernan Crespo August '03, Internazionale £16.8m

 

Claude Makelele Sept '03, Real Madrid £16.7m

 

Adrian Mutu August '03, Parma £15.8m

 

Juan Veron Aug '03, Manchester United £15m

 

Total outlay under Abramovich: £268.45m

 

 

<Insert ridiculous and illogical sign off...logic, reason, insider etc!!>

[LFCNeil90]

Add Jobi whats his face infront of Mutu.. its ridiculous

[Eiler99]

How much did they pay for Scott "the forgotten one" Parker?

[CarraLegend]

How much did they pay for Scott "the forgotten one" Parker?

 

£10m I think and he pisses all over Essien who they then went out and brought for a ridiculous amount.

[Guz]

Drogba has been the best of them all. The price they pay is irellevent, what he has brought to the team, which is what Mourinho bought him for, is the key.

[Whitey]

Just did a bit more research and found this complete list at Reuters

 

After the top 10 list there's also....

 

Paulo Ferreira 22/06/04 RB Porto 13.2

Arjen Robben 01/07/04 LW PSV Eindhoven 12.0

Scott Parker 30/01/04 MF Charlton Athletic 10.0

Asier Del Horno 21/06/05 DF Athletic Bilbao 8.0

Tiago 20/07/04 MF Benfica 8.0

Geremi 16/07/03 MF Real Madrid 7.02

Petr Cech 01/06/04 GK Rennes 7.0

Wayne Bridge 21/07/03 LB Southampton 7.0

Joe Cole 06/08/03 MF West Ham United 6.6

Glen Johnson 15/07/03 RB West Ham United 6.0

Mateja Kezman 12/07/04 FW PSV Eindhoven 5.0

 

 

Joe Cole looks a bargain in that list.

 

"total spend " 268M.....total income from transfers out 23.5M......different ballgame.

[Jim D]

It is actually more than £268million since this value does not include the transfer fees of Shevchenko and Mikel. Add another £46million to that value.

 

Total outlay under Abramovich: £314.45million.

[Guest Aussie_Red]

But they'd trade it all for a European Cup.

[The Hitman]

I'm sorry,but it's completely and utterly absurd,I've never heard anything quite like any of this.

[stressederic]

I honestly don't know how any Chelsea fan, can say with a straightface, their two recent league titles, are down to anything other then the massive amount of money they've spent under Abramovich.

[Zoob]

The important thing is that they've won the league by playing great football, played an honest game that has won them universal respect, and have been very gracious, both in victory and defeat...

[kop205]

I honestly don't know how any Chelsea fan, can say with a straightface, their two recent league titles, are down to anything other then the massive amount of money they've spent under Abramovich.

 

I don't think that even any of them would actually disagree with you.

 

The line they take is to say that what they are doing now is no different to what other clubs, including Liverpool, have done in the past i.e. they say that the title is ALWAYS bought and it is just their turn to do it now.

 

To even pretend that there is a parallel between what we have done in the past and what they are doing now is laughable.

 

We became wealthy because of our success, not successful because of our wealth (we were 2nd division and playing in a toilet of a ground when Shankly took over and he had to battle for every penny he was given to spend).

 

We have never relied on single benefactors who, were they to jump ship for any reason, would totally shaft the whole club (they seem to think that we enjoyed millions from Littlewoods pools in the 60s - my understanding was it was always Everton who benefitted from that more than us, hence the 'Mersey Millionaires' tag, but correct me if I am wrong).

 

We have never operated beyond our means (in terms of expenditure outstripping income) to the extent that they do now.

 

We have never spent anything like the kind of money on player wages (even as a proprotion of total expenditure) that they know spend.

 

I could go on, but is a tired argument now, they are deluduing themselves if they think that what they are doing now is anything other than an unprecedented, ugly, freakish episode in the history of the game.

[madaboutlfc]

chelsea fans talk s****.. mancs talk more sense then them which is saying something.. however many titles chelsea wins is irrelevant... theyre a club on par with newcastle in terms of stature.. if newcastle had won something in the 50 odd years domestically id have them ahead of chelsea.. 10 chelsea titles dont hurt as much as 1 league cup win by man u.. they are the enemy

[Jacko]

Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the original post I just wanted to reply to a couple of things implied in the responses that are commonly banded around.

 

1/ If Abramovich leaves Chelsea they won't be in the lurch. Why would they be? They'll have all those players on their books and no debts.... Sure they wouldn't be able to spend like they have done but they'd be fine and better off than 95% of the Premiership/Europe it's not as though they're a small club anymore and they weren't for 5yrs or so before he turned up.

 

2/ They're not spending outside of their means. C'mon the Russian's worth $7bn last time I looked and he doesn't give a f*** about the books whilst this is his number one plaything. If they get close to spending $5bn then maybe we can say it but as they're not playing by the same rules as the rest of us you can't judge them by the same rules.

[floyd]

Kenyon has a couple of years left on his 5 year plan to balance the books

Did Kenyon work for Enron at some stage??

[Maldini]

Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the original post I just wanted to reply to a couple of things implied in the responses that are commonly banded around.

 

1/ If Abramovich leaves Chelsea they won't be in the lurch. Why would they be? They'll have all those players on their books and no debts.... Sure they wouldn't be able to spend like they have done but they'd be fine and better off than 95% of the Premiership/Europe it's not as though they're a small club anymore and they weren't for 5yrs or so before he turned up.

 

2/ They're not spending outside of their means. C'mon the Russian's worth $7bn last time I looked and he doesn't give a f*** about the books whilst this is his number one plaything. If they get close to spending $5bn then maybe we can say it but as they're not playing by the same rules as the rest of us you can't judge them by the same rules.

That doesn't make sense, they made a loss of something like £90m(I think) last year, they've added to their wage bill hugely. If Abramovich was to pull out tomorrow (I don't think he will TBH, he's in it for the long haul I fear) they would have a massive wage bill and not have the income to pay it.

[kop205]

Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the original post I just wanted to reply to a couple of things implied in the responses that are commonly banded around.

 

1/ If Abramovich leaves Chelsea they won't be in the lurch. Why would they be? They'll have all those players on their books and no debts.... Sure they wouldn't be able to spend like they have done but they'd be fine and better off than 95% of the Premiership/Europe it's not as though they're a small club anymore and they weren't for 5yrs or so before he turned up.

 

2/ They're not spending outside of their means. C'mon the Russian's worth $7bn last time I looked and he doesn't give a f*** about the books whilst this is his number one plaything. If they get close to spending $5bn then maybe we can say it but as they're not playing by the same rules as the rest of us you can't judge them by the same rules.

 

 

It isn't a tough one mate.

 

How do they pay all those wonderful players if Abramovich were to go? IOUs? They'd be royally f***ed, Leeds Utd with bells on. It would be sale of the century time as they desperately tried to reduce the wage bill.

 

And anyone who spends more than they have coming in (which Chelsea are continuing to do, in fact they seem to be getting worse) IS, by definition, living outside of their means. Ultimately that is not sustainable and makes no sense from a business perspective. Of couse it isn't going to bankrupt him at any point in the next 50 years, but that isn't the point. The point is that for all their claims to the contrary, they haven't got a hope in hell of achieving their stated aim of 'sustainability' whilst they continue to spend in this fashion (and as has been pointed out already, their spending is hardly slowing down, the opposite in fact - read Paul Wilson in the Observer today). They will contine to be completely and utterly reliant on Abramovich.

 

The 'living outside of their means' point isn't necessarily anything to do with them going bust anyway (although as Leeds showed, it is a dangerous game to play). It is simply to illustarte that again, depite their claims to the contrary, they are financed in a manner and to a degree that is totally without precedent, and that makes a mockery of their claims that they are only doing what other clubs have always done.

[Ibby]

Drogba has been the best of them all. The price they pay is irellevent, what he has brought to the team, which is what Mourinho bought him for, is the key.

 

i disagree. Makalele without doubt is worth every penny on that list.

 

without him they would never win as many matches as they have done. the last two years he is the best in the world at what he does