The Blues have had some high-profile failures since the Russian took over despite using the transfer market to become one of Europe's biggest clubs

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  15Deco

  Deco was a big-name arrival at the Bridge but the legendary Portuguese player was in the twilight of his career when he linked up with Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad.

  Indeed, he turned 31 shortly after joining from Barcelona for £8m and it quickly became apparent that he had left his best years behind him in Catalunya.

  Deco didn't adapt well to the pace of football in England and his Brazilian boss didn't last long either, with Scolari sacked in February 2009.

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  14Yossi Benayoun

  Yossi Benayoun was another player signed by Chelsea from Liverpool but he only made 14 league appearances after his £5.5m transfer from Anfield.

  The former West Ham United man had a good career, aside from his spell in London, but he was the last thirty-something to be offered more than a one-year deal, as the club implemented a new policy of short contracts for older players. 

  Benayoun was loaned to Arsenal and then West Ham before eventually joining QPR on a permanent deal.

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  13Jose Bosingwa

  Jose Bosingwa joined Chelsea in a £16.2m deal and many thought that he might make a big impact at Stamford Bridge after impressing at Porto. 

  However, he ended up getting squeezed out of the team by the initially unfancied Branislav Ivanovic after some shaky defensive displays. 

  Chelsea decided not to offer a contract to the Portuguese defender, who ended up at QPR, another move that didn't work out well for him or his new club. 

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  12Yuri Zhirkov

  Yuri Zhirkov, Andrey Arshavin, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Roman Pavlyuchenko all arrived in England from Russia around the same as the national team was enjoying its best group of players in decades. 

  However, none managed to truly establish themselves in the division and Chelsea's left-back struggled the most to setttle in England, after his £18.6m move from CSKA Moscow. 

  Ashley Cole was ageing but Zhirkov didn't put him under any pressure at all and the Blues were more than happy to accept a reported £13.2m offer from Anzhi Makhachkala for the Russian's services in 2011.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News