Ronaldinho, Raul Among 8 Big Transfers Chelsea Missed During Abramovich’s Early Years

• Roman Abrahamovich acquired English club Chelsea in July 2003 for a reported fee of GBP 140million, having shown passion for football
• The billionaire’s arrival in England changed the face of football in the Premier League as other clubs began to sign top players
• Having signed some of the best players on the planet, the Blues however missed out on some superstars, including Ronaldinho

In 2003, Russian businessman and politician Roman Abrahamovic purchased Premier League club Chelsea and then spent heavily on signing new players.

Abramovic splashed huge cash in landing stars as he chased some of the biggest players in world football, but narrowly missed out on some.

When the billionaire arrived English football, the entire space changed and there was money to pursue the club’s mission and vision as they began to win titles.

Daily Star wrote:

“Silly season' no longer existed at Stamford Bridge. Everything - and everyone - was on the table because the Blues had the money to buy whoever they wanted.

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“As it turned out, Chelsea didn't buy everyone they wanted, but they gave it a bloody good go, tabling previously unfathomable bids left and right in an attempt to build a super team for the ages.”

Chelsea did everything to sign Steven Gerrard who tried to force transfer to the London club in 2005, and the Liverpool legend is not the only player who missed out.

With that being said, here are nine massive stars who nearly joined Chelsea during Abramovich's early years.

1. Alessandro Nesta
2. Raul
3. Christian Vieri
4. Edgar Davids
5. Ronaldinho
6. Gianluigi Buffon
7. Kaka
8. Roberto Carlos

Tuchel breaks Mourinho’s record at Chelsea

Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel became the first Chelsea manager to reach the final of the League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League after the Blues progressed over Antonio Conte’s Tottenham in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday, January 12.

German defender Antonio Rudiger scored the only goal of the reverse fixture to give Chelsea a comfortable 3-0 aggregate win against the North London club.

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The victory means Chelsea will play either Liverpool or Arsenal in the EFL Cup final as both sides had their semi-final fixtures postponed due to a covid outbreak in the Reds camp.

Tuchel sealing yet another final spot as Chelsea manager in just under 360 days at coach at the Stamford bridge club has made the German tactician overtake previous manager Jose Mourinho’s record at the Bridge.

Luis Diaz linked with Liverpool move

Sports Brief earlier reported that English giants Liverpool are now linked with Colombian international Luis Diaz whose release clause is valued at €80million (£67m), according to reports.

The FC Porto star is on the radar of the Premier League club as he has also attracted interests from several clubs across the European continent.

It was gathered that his Portuguese club will not negotiate the player’s release clause as various reports claim Jurgen Klopp is desperate in landing the star at Anfield.