The winter transfer window has now closed in England and around the major European leagues, so here is a round-up of incomings and outgoings at Chelsea during a busy January…
The transfer deadline passed for Premier League clubs at 11pm on Tuesday 31 January, and at various times on the same date for clubs in most countries in Europe, including Spain, Italy, Germany and France, as well as Chelsea Women and the other Women’s Super League teams.
Enzo Fernandez worth the wait on deadline day
One of Chelsea’s biggest signings of the winter came as the window closed, Enzo Fernandez adding the finishing touch to Graham Potter’s squad for the second half of our Premier League and Champions League campaigns.
The 22-year-old Argentine midfielder, who was named by FIFA as the tournament’s best young player when he starred in his country’s World Cup triumph in December, joined the Blues from Portuguese side Benfica.
Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix get things started
In a month of exciting attacking signings, our first new arrival of the January transfer window was one aimed at bolstering our back line, in the form of French defender Benoit Badiashile, who moved to Chelsea from Monaco on 5 January.
He was joined just under a week later by the more creative talents of Joao Felix. The versatile and skilful Portuguese winger came to Stamford Bridge on loan from Atletico Madrid until the end of the 2022/23 season.
Building for the future
Between those two arrivals came a trio of youthful players with plenty of potential. The first of those, David Fofana, has already had men's first-team involvement with Chelsea after signing from Molde, as the striker came off the bench against Manchester City in the FA Cup, the day after his transfer was officially completed.
Chelsea also finalised the signing of teenage right-back Malo Gusto from Lyon, with the France Under-21 international returning to the Groupama Stadium for the remainder of the 2022/23 season to add to his 45 Ligue 1 appearances for Lyon so far.
The other youngster to join the Blues in January, in fact on the same day as Fofana, was Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos, the 18-year-old signing for Chelsea from Vasco da Gama in his homeland.
Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke add to the attack
A busy transfer window for Chelsea continued with the arrivals of two of the most exciting young wingers in European football. The in-demand Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk was the first, choosing the Blues as his January destination when he departed Shakhtar Donetsk, and impressing as a substitute on his debut away at Liverpool.
He was soon followed by England Under-21 international Noni Madueke, who moved to Stamford Bridge from PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, where, much like Mudryk, he had demonstrated the kind of pace and skill which are a nightmare for defenders.
Fond farewell to Jorginho
The departures from Stamford Bridge came late in the window, on transfer deadline day, beginning with Academy striker Jude Soonsup-Bell moving across London to Tottenham Hotspur. He made one senior appearance for Chelsea, at Brentford in last season’s Carabao Cup.
The biggest farewell at Stamford Bridge on deadline day was for Jorginho, though, as the midfielder ended his time as our vice-captain by moving to Arsenal in a permanent transfer. That brought to an end his four-and-a-half years with the Blues, during which he made over 200 appearances while helping us to win the Champions League, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, as well as being named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year in 2021.
Quiet Women’s window
With Emma Hayes’ Chelsea Women team sitting top of the Women’s Super League table, plus Melanie Leupolz returning to the squad following a year’s absence, their winter transfer activity was mostly focused on the future.
That included the signing of Japan’s exciting teenage winger Maika Hamano from INAC Kobe Leonessa, who will spend 2023 on loan in Sweden with Hammarby. Other loans saw Aniek Nouwen move to AC Milan, after signing a new contract with the Blues, while Charlotte Wardlaw ended her spell at Liverpool to join Lewes.
The only permanent departure for our women’s team was striker Bethany England, who completed a transfer to Tottenham following seven trophy-laden years at Chelsea, during which she scored 74 goals in 164 appearances for the Blues.
Youngsters gain experience
Academy defender Bashir Humphreys, who made his senior Chelsea debut in the FA Cup against Manchester City in January, moved overseas to embark on the maiden loan of his career, joining German second-division side Paderborn until the end of the season.
Italian midfielder Cesare Casadei was another making a temporary switch for this season, joining fellow Chelsea loanee Baba Rahman in the Championship at Reading.
A trio of young goalkeepers also went on loan for the remainder of 2022/23 to get their first experience of senior football, with Eddie Beach heading to Chelmsford City and Teddy Sharman-Lowe to Havant & Waterlooville, both in the National League South, as well as Max Merrick joining Hanwell Town in the Southern League.
Lucas Bergstrom (Peterborough United), Bryan Fiabema (Forest Green Rovers), Harvey Vale (Hull City), Ethan Wady (Woking) and Jayden Wareham (Leyton Orient) all returned to Chelsea in January after spending the first half of the season on loan.
