Transfer windows always have two extreme ends, they are either extremely fun to follow or they just frustrate you outright (based on what your team does of course,). Chelsea changed the transfer game during the 2003-04 season after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over the club. Ever since then, the club has always been one of the top 5 clubs to look out for during every transfer window, except for last season for obvious reasons, but as always, we still managed to stay on the headlines.

The ever charismatic Marina Granovskaia has made many signings out of the blue. She’s been involved in many shrewd business negotiations and has at times pocketed fancy sums for some pretty average players. Having said that, the board has also been involved in some controversial transfers, which some might term as intelligent, but others might question their ethic. Today we’ll be looking at some of the transfers where Chelsea literally just hijacked the deals right under the noses of other clubs.


Willian Borges Da Silva


This is one that everyone is definitely familiar with. The Brazilian was one of the hottest prospects during his time at Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. After putting in scintillating performances, the Brazilian made a surprise move to Anzi Makhachkala in January 2013 and was the club’s record signing back then. His stay didn’t last very long though, as the club’s financial struggles meant that he was up for sale when the the summer transfer window rolled round.


Willian was touted to join Tottenham Hotspurs and even completed his medicals with them during the summer of 2013. However, that’s when the drama kicked in. Jose Mourinho, the then manager of Chelsea, was desperate for Willian to be part of his setup and this was the start of what went on to be one of the most talked-about transfers in recent premier league history. To wrap this deal up quickly, it was reported that Roman called up his fellow Russian oligarch, Suleyman Kerimov, the then owner of Anzhi, to express his desire to bring Willian to Stamford bridge.


Tottenham had thought that they had already had their bid of £30 million accepted only for Chelsea to seal the deal under their nose for just £32 million. Done with his medicals, Willian arrived at the Tottenham training centre where his agent was waiting outside. He then told Willian about the interest from Chelsea and that’s when Willian realised his dream was about to be fulfilled. He narrated the incident saying, “We’re going in the van, on the way, to get to the training centre. Kia, my agent, is already down there, waiting. I thought it was weird, he was already at the door.”


“I got out of the van and he said, ‘We have problems’. I said ‘Oh, what happened?’ Then he says, ‘Chelsea made an offer’. I said, ‘So I’ll get back in the van, you make do and I’ll go to Chelsea, I will not sign with Tottenham’.” (quoted by Football London)


Days later, Willian was officially announced as a Chelsea player. When Mourinho was asked about the controversial deal, he took a cheeky dig at Tottenham saying, “That’s the danger of medicals before contracts. The best thing to do is to do the medical in secret.”


With Willian reportedly announcing that he’ll be leaving at the end of this season (free agent,) Spurs would be looking at the possibility of bringing him to their camp and make up for their once failed transfer attempt. Hopefully, with Mourinho in the dugout this time, they will be clever enough to have the medicals in secret.


John Obi Mikel

This has to be one of the most controversial transfers in the history of football. In April 2005, Manchester United had announced that it had struck a deal with Norwegian side Lyn for their young prodigy Mikel. Their official website even claimed that the youngster had signed a contract with them. However, United never consulted his agents. The club had directly negotiated with the player and claimed to have struck a 4-year deal. This prompted Lyn in sending a fax to his agents abroad stating that their services weren’t required as Mikel had already agreed on a move to United and would arrive there in January 2006.


Confusions began when Chelsea, a few days later, claimed that they had already a deal in place with Mikel and his agents, however, Lyn completely denied such claims. Reports even emerged that Chelsea had arranged for the player to travel to Europe in order to sign him at a later date. Amidst all this, United moved quickly and held a press conference and officially announced the signing of Mikel. He was pictured with the Manchester United jersey and squad number 21. Mikel received several threatening phone calls and hence he was kept under high security. However, on May 11 2005, Mikel went missing during a Norwegian cup game against Klemestrud. He was watching the game from the stands moments before his disappearance. The issue got serious when Lyn Director claimed that the player was kidnapped and the then United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz went one step further and claimed Chelsea had kidnapped the player.


Later it emerged that Mikel had travelled to London with his agent John Shittu. After staying in a hotel for more than a week, Mikel stated to Sky Sports News that he was pressurised to sign for United without his agents present and claimed Chelsea were the club that he wanted to sign for. In a rapid response, United took the issue to FIFA and made a formal complaint about the behaviour of Chelsea and Mikel’s agents, Shittu and Rune Hauge. However, FIFA dismissed the complaint due to lack of evidence.

FIFA then claimed that it would take a decision whether Mikel’s contract with United will be upheld or cancelled. However, Chelsea intervened and recommended that the club would sit down with Lyn and Manchester United and solve the issue themselves. In June 2006, all three clubs reached on a settlement that Mikel would move to Chelsea and his contract with United would be terminated. Also, Chelsea would have to pay a compensation fee of £4 million to Lyn and £12 million to Manchester United. Finally, Chelsea went on to sign the midfielder in the very same month a few days later.


Arjen Robben

Another talented player who made a name for himself at a very young age, Arjen Robben was the hot prospect during the early years of the 2000s. Starting his career at Dutch side Groningen, Robben quickly moved through the ranks and secured a move to PSV Eindhoven where the wingers potential was unleashed. He won the “PSV co-player of the Year” award in his very first season along with teammate Kezman. After his impressive performances in the Eredivisie, Manchester United were the first club to make contacts with Robben. He travelled to London, where United’s the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson was waiting for him. The Dutchman was invited for a dinner by the Ferguson and it was evident that United had started to make their moves. However, United’s low fee and delay in contract negotiations paved the path for Chelsea to snatch up the deal.

Roman Abramovich, who was closely watching the events unfold, quickly sensed an opportunity to put in a quick offer of €18 million (£12.1 million), which was way more than United’s offer of €7 million – a sum that the then PSV chairman Harry Van Raaij told would fetch United only Robben’s jersey with his autograph.

Robben narrated the events himself recently while speaking to FourFourTwo magazine. He said, “I had a very good conversation with him (Ferguson) over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life. I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good, but after I went back to PSV nothing happened.”


“There was no real contact and the deal didn’t happen.”

“PSV were also negotiating with Chelsea at that time, so maybe they offered PSV more money? I don’t really know. I spoke to Chelsea and I liked their plans,” he added.

He further went on to add, “Had Manchester United offered me a deal straight after I met them, I would have signed there, but it didn’t happen and I have got no regrets.”

Robben went to become a key a player for Chelsea, helping them win two League titles, two League Cups, one FA Cup and two English Super Cups.


Pedro Rodriguez

This was probably one of the quickest deals that Chelsea have ever been involved in. Pedro had won everything at Barcelona and was looking to move to a club where he would be offered a role greater than impact sub. Manchester United’s interest meant it was all set for Pedro to make his move to Old Trafford and that’s exactly when Chelsea came out of nowhere once again. Pedro was being monitored throughout the summer by Manchester United. Ed Woodward even flew to Barcelona to finalise the deal, however, he was reluctant to pay the Catalan club’s asking price. Marina Granovskaia was simultaneously working on a deal for Pedro with Barcelona. Taking advantage of the situation, Marina put in a late bid matching the asking price while United were busy preparing their next bid.


Behind the scenes, the then manager Jose Mourinho and his playmaker Cesc Fabregas were busy convincing Pedro that his future was in London. He was also in touch with his former teammate Victor Valdes, who advised him against any move to Manchester United pointing at how he was ill-treated by the then Red Devils manager Louis Van Gaal.