Does anyone remember a time when Chelsea were not owned by a Russian oligarch, but in fact, a rather unpopular Englishman who has, to put it politely, a very particular way with words. Roman Abramovich is coming up to a decade in charge of the Blues, having gone money crazy after taking over at Stamford Bridge from Ken Bates. Chelsea have changed the face of English football, splashing the cash at every available opportunity and not always wisely either.

Sometimes, they’ve simply thrown big fees at players who never really appeared for the club or merely made up the numbers sitting on the bench. Admittedly, Abramovich’s billions have finally bought the Champions League, but they’ve gone through a serious number of players (and not to mention managers) to find the winning formula. The previous owners aren’t entirely clean in terms of dodgy transfers and there’s certainly been some tripe pull on the blue shirt since the Premier League began. We look back and assess the worst Chelsea signing XI in the modern era of English football:

Click on Tal Ben Haim to unveil the starting XI

Tal Ben Haim, Portsmouth defender