It’s no secret to say that Chelsea have enjoyed splashing the cash throughout the years in order to generate success. On the whole, it appears to have worked fairly well, with the Blues winning two Champions League titles and five Premier League crowns to go alongside a handful of other honours.
Big-money signings such as Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante have all powered the club to glory during their respective spells at the Stamford Bridge side, yet not every transfer has been successful, with some bordering on the wasteful side that rinsed the club for very little impact on the pitch.
Antonio Conte won a league title and FA Cup as Chelsea manager and re-established them following a woeful 2015/16 campaign, yet he had a few shockers in the transfer window.
Shelling out £33m for Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi not long after he took charge in the summer of 2016 would certainly be classed as one of those shockers considering his poor goal return.
Where is Michy Batshuayi now?
On the surface, the 22-year-old looked like an excellent prospect who could further develop at Chelsea and eventually turn into a first-team star.
He had scored 23 goals for Marseille the season before and had even represented Belgium at the European Championships in 2016, scoring against Hungary, suggesting he had a bright future ahead of him at both club and international level.
The striker netted 11 goals during his first campaign at the Blues, scoring the title-winning goal against West Bromwich Albion in May 2017, and it looked as though it was £33m well spent.
He would go on to score just another 16 goals for the club after that title campaign, spending time on loan at the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Crystal Palace and Besiktas while failing to convince the likes of Frank Lampard, Maurizio Sarri and Thomas Tuchel he deserved a place in the starting XI.
Dubbed “ruthless” by BBC Sport football writer Phil McNulty at the 2022 World Cup, he had left Chelsea at the start of the campaign to join Fenerbahçe on a free transfer, meaning the club had lost a staggering sum on the player.
The 50-cap striker enjoyed a strong enough start to life in the Premier League, however, he couldn’t quite force his way into a regular fixture in the starting XI and what looked like a wonderful investment back in 2016 soon turned out to be an expensive nightmare.