The worst five signings made by Chelsea when Laurence Stewart was at the club
Laurence Stewart’s four years at Chelsea are set to come to an end as his exit has been agreed by mutual consent, with a number of underwhelming signings joining the club in this time.
Stewart’s relationship with Behdad Eghbali remains strong, however the Blues are electing to streamline their football department following the hiring of a manager in Xabi Alonso, rather than a new head coach.
Player turnover has been at an all-time high at Stamford Bridge since the new owners took over, and Stewart, alongside Paul Winstanley, have been behind a large amount of the additions.
Chelsea needed this break BADLY… but with so many players racking up minutes for their countries, did it actually help them or could it have made things worse? 🤔
Let us know your reasoning! 👇
The worst five signings of the Laurence Stewart era at Chelsea
While the likes of Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro have worked out brilliantly, plenty have failed to live up to the hype, and The Chelsea Chronicle have named the five worst additions made during this period.
Mykhailo Mudryk – £62m
Chelsea were hungry to get one up on rivals Arsenal in the transfer market when they hijacked a move for Mykhailo Mudryk in 2023.
The Ukraine international never delivered on the pitch, and in truth was surely close to being given up on before a suspension kept him out of action for nearly two years.
In a desperate last attempt to rescue his Chelsea career, he is now on loan at Tottenham, but with signings such as Morgan Rogers and Estevao Willian suggest they have already mostly moved on.
Axel Disasi – £39m
Stewart was expected to be somewhat of an expert in French football following his time working there, but the signing of Axel Disasi did not live up to that billing.
The Frenchman struggled as a first team player and was frozen out by Enzo Maresca, making loan moves to Aston Villa and West Ham.
He is currently on loan at Crystal Palace, as it has become clear that finding a permanent suitor for Disasi is far harder than they would have hoped.
Benoit Badiashile – £35m
Signed in the same window as Disasi, Stewart swung and missed with both centre-backs from Ligue 1 in 2023 as Benoit Badiashile joined too.
Badiashile is currently struggling on loan at Napoli, and saw injuries play a part in him being unable to break into the starting XI on a regular basis.
Even when Levi Colwill was injured, Badiashile could not nail down a regular starting place, and has seemingly seen his Chelsea career come to an end.
Joao Felix – £45m
Joao Felix struggled to make an impact during a high-profile loan spell at the club back in 2023, although the club decided signing him permanently 12 months later was the best port of call.
Maresca clearly didn’t fancy using him, and he was out on loan halfway through what would be his only season back at the club.
On paper, this deal never looked as if it was going to work out, and essentially came as a swap for Conor Gallagher, who was more important to the club than Felix proved to be.
Christopher Nkunku – £52m
Perhaps the only signing that Stewart cannot take too much blame for, given the fact that injuries derailed Christopher Nkunku’s time at Chelsea before it even began.
The excitement for him joining from RB Leipzig was off the scale at the time, however he would never hit his previous heights at Stamford Bridge.
It appears this time in West London has had an effect on the rest of his career, with him now out of the picture at AC Milan too.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
