When Todd Boehly completed his takeover of Chelsea in 2022, his arrival was filled with excitement and apprehension but fast-forward 17 months, and the Blues have gone through turmoil on the back of their disastrous spending in the transfer window.
From finishing 12th in the Premier League last season after Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard all had spells as head coach, they now lie in the bottom half under Mauricio Pochettino.
What's more alarming is the fact that the Blues have gone backwards as a club despite spending an eye-watering £1bn on 33 new signings since May 2022 and according to Jamie Carragher, still need at least four top players if they are to stand any chance of catching Manchester City.
Astronomical spending without significant returns on their outlay isn't a concept that is alien to Chelsea. In the near two decades that Roman Abramovich owned the club, the Russian shelled out large sums of money on several stars who flopped at Stamford Bridge, including Fernando Torres (£50m), Tiemoue Bakayoko (£40m) and Timo Werner (£45m) – to name a few – but by far the worst of the lost was the deal to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club in 2021.
How much did Romelu Lukaku cost Chelsea?
Romelu Lukaku declared he had "unfinished business" when he returned to Chelsea from Inter Milan in 2021 for a club-record fee of £97.5m.
The Belgian "monster" – as dubbed by Jose Mourinho during his time at Manchester United – arrived in west London when his stock was at its highest having chalked up a sensational 40 goal contributions in one season for Inter prior to joining the Blues.
Expected to fire Thomas Tuchel's side to a Premier League title on the back of their Champions League triumph over Manchester City, Chelsea paid Lukaku a staggering £325k-per-week, making him the club's highest earner, as per Capology.
Amounting to an eye-watering salary of £16.9m across the 2021/22 campaign, the weight of expectation on the shoulders of the 6 foot 3 powerhouse was enormous and a return to Stamford Bridge would either make or break him.
Unfortunately, the latter transpired as Lukaku would go down as one of the worst signings, not just in the club's history, but of all-time.
What went wrong for Lukaku at Chelsea?
Although Lukaku's disastrous spell on the books of Chelsea is still ongoing, initially it looked as though Tuchel would be a match made in heaven for the striker as he opened his account for the club with three goals in as many matches, including a brace against Aston Villa.
Speaking after his excellent display against the Villans, Tuchel expressed his delight, saying: “He was the difference.
“He wants to score and he wants to help the team with his goals. He has composure and confidence. He was super important. He adds something to the group that we did not have in this capacity before now.”
While Lukaku was playing with a point to prove in those initial matches, his second spell at Stamford Bridge would soon unravel into a nightmare, beginning with an injury in late October and continuing when he publicly admitted – months after he signed – that he wasn't happy with his situation at Chelsea, suggesting Tuchel has opted to play a system that doesn't suit his style of play.
"Physically I am fine. But I'm not happy with the situation at Chelsea," Lukaku told Sky in Italy [Via talkSPORT] in an interview that took place in December 2021.
"Tuchel has chosen to play with another system – I won't give up, I'll be professional. I am not happy with the situation but I am professional – and I can't give up now."
If the knife wasn't already stabbed into Tuchel's back enough, he went deeper by saying he regrets the way he left former club Inter Milan and vowed to go back to the San Siro – and would be granted his wish in the following season as he returned on loan, with the Italian side paying £6.9m (€8m) for his services.
Now on loan at Roma, linking up with former manager Mourinho, Lukaku has scored four goals in his first six appearances for the club as Chelsea hope to finally offload their "biggest flop" – as dubbed by the journalist Jonny Bentley – once and for all. That won't be before he's cost them the best part of £114m, though, when considering salary and transfer fee.