10 hours ago
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Since 2022
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The summer transfer window hasn't even technically opened for Premier League clubs, but Chelsea are already preparing to spend a remarkable amount of money on more defenders. The Stamford Bridge club are widely expected to complete a move for Atalanta right-back Marco Palestra in the coming days, who will reportedly cost €55 million, plus sell-on clauses, making the 21-year-old talent the joint-fifth most expensive right-back in the history of the sport.
However, Chelsea's big summer investments in their back line are unlikely to stop there. According to reports in England, the club are aggresively pursuing the signature of Crystal Palace star Maxence Lacroix. Despite being linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich, it seems as though Chelsea are in pole position to sign the French defender. Although no transfer fee has been revealed as of yet, it's believed that Palace are holding out for at least €40-50m for the central defender. That would take Chelsea's spending on defenders ahead of the new season to close to €100m. And that should come as no great surprise to fans of the club, considering Chelsea's policy of hoovering up defenders since Todd Boehly & Co. took over in 2022.
Indeed, as the table above shows, Chelsea have already spent a staggering €409m on defenders since the start of the 2022/23 season. Not only is that 24% of the club's total spending on transfer fees in that period of time, but it's also around €80m more than the next highest spenders Manchester City and almost twice what European champions Paris Saint-Germain have spent on defenders in the last four seasons.
When we break that figure down into fees paid each season, it tells an interesting story. For example, in the 2022/23 season Chelsea spent €256m on new defenders - over half their total amount since then. That figure dropped to just €45m in the 23/24 season and just €41m in the following season, followed by a relatively modest sum of €58m spent on new defenders last season. However, it reports are to be believed, Chelsea will almost certainly blow right past the €100m figure for new defenders this season. And the club will certainly be hoping that this summer's investment may bring with it more success than the previous defenders signed in recent years.
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