TODD BOEHLY’S Chelsea have been the Premier League’s big spenders since his takeover in May last year.
If the £45million transfer of Cole Palmer goes through they will have spent over £1billion in transfer fees during Boehly’s ownership.
GettyDe Bruyne is one of the 28 ex-Chelsea players playing in the Champions League this season[/caption]
ReutersMason Mount is one of the many Chelsea academy players to have flown the nest and play for a Champions League side[/caption]
But part of his aggressive transfer strategy has seen Chelsea shed a number of players from the old regime.
This summer alone, 21 players have left Chelsea either permanently or on loan, including a number of former regular starters in the form of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic.
That means the sight of a former Chelsea player popping up for a team in Europe has become commonplace.
A remarkable 28 ex-Chelsea players are plying their trade for teams in the Champions League this season with a further three ex-Chelsea managers calling the shots at clubs in Europe’s elite competition.
Not all of these players left under the Boehly regime, but the number of players still playing at Europe’s highest level is testament to the club’s high turnover.
Chelsea don’t have to look too far from home to be reminded of former Blues now playing in the Champions League, with a number of their players playing for fellow Premier League teams.
Manchester City have Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and the aforementioned Kovacic all plying their trade for them.
Arsenal‘s squad contains Jorginho, who joined the club last January, Havertz and former Cobham academy player Declan Rice.
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Newcastle took Lewis Hall on loan from Chelsea last week, and also snapped up Tino Livramento from Southampton in a £30m deal – who is another product of the Chelsea academy.
The Magpies have been drawn in the same Champions League group as AC Milan who have FOUR ex-Chelsea players: Olivier Giroud, Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic.
Manchester United added Mount to their ranks this summer in a £65m deal, the only player to up their Chelsea quota.
If all of Chelsea’s ex-players were to link up in a hypothetical squad, they would be spoilt for choice for ex-Chelsea managers to take charge of them.
Maurizio Sarri currently manages Lazio, Thomas Tuchel is in charge at Bayern and Carlo Ancelotti is still head honcho at Real Madrid, where he manages Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Rudiger.
The full list of ex-Chelsea players featuring in the Champions League this year is as follows:
Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City)Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)Nathan Ake (Manchester City)Kai Havertz (Arsenal)Jorginho (Arsenal)Declan Rice (Arsenal)Mason Mount (Manchester United)Oriol Romeu (Barcelona)Marcus Alonso (Barcelona)Andreas Christensen (Barcelona)Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)Kepa (Loan – Real Madrid)Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid)Cesar Azpilicueta (Atletico Madrid)Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)Christian Pulisic (AC Milan)Olivier Giroud (AC Milan)Ruben Loftus Cheek (AC Milan)Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)Pedro (Lazio)Juan Cuadrado (Inter Milan)Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund)Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)Patrick Van Aanholt (PSV)Tino Livramento (Newcastle)Lewis Hall (Newcastle)David Datro Fofana (Union Berlin)