Cobham talent left Chelsea for just £170k, now he's worth more than Isak
da aviator aposta： The fans might not have got everything they wanted, but it was a pretty good summer transfer window for Chelsea this year.
da bet esporte： The club were able to ship out several players they deemed no longer good enough, and bring in a host of brilliant young talents who could develop into superstars for Enzo Maresca.
However, unlike some of their Premier League rivals, there was no blockbuster move for a certifiable world-class player, like Alexander Isak.
The Swedish international’s £125m move to Liverpool is now the league’s record transfer, although, painfully, Chelsea did lose a young talent in the past who is now worth more than that.
The best Ex-Chelsea gems
Over the last five years or so, Chelsea have seen a pretty constant stream of academy products come through and make it into the first team.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
However, like every other team, they’ve also lost out on some serious stars when they were young, with Declan Rice being a big one.
The Arsenal star came up through Cobham alongside Mason Mount and a number of other notable players, but at the age of 14 was let go.
He then moved to West Ham United, where he made 245 appearances and won the Conference League before joining the Gunners for £105m in the summer of 2023 and becoming a key cog in Mikel Arteta’s midfield.
Another youngster the Blues missed out on was Michael Olise, who left the club at the age of 14 and has gone on to become one of the best wingers in world football.
The Frenchman earned a £50m move to Bayern Munich last summer after impressing at Crystal Palace and more than justified his price tag.
In 55 appearances, he scored 20 goals and provided 23 assists, which comes out to a sensational average of a goal involvement every 1.27 games.
In all, Chelsea have missed out on some unreal talents of the years, although perhaps the worst is someone now worth more than Isak.
The ex-Chelsea gem worth more than Isak
Unfortunately for Chelsea, there are plenty more stars they let slip through their fingers, but in this case, the player worth more than Isak is Jamal Musiala.
Yes, the German international was once a part of the Blues’ academy, but in the summer of 2019, he opted to join Bayern, for which the club received just £170k.
It was seen as such a disaster by some that Massimo Franchi, the creator of the Golden Boy award, compared it to “the Louvre losing the Mona Lisa!”
Dramatic? Slightly, but the mercurial midfielder has been exceptional in the years since, and according to the CIES Football Observatory, is worth up to 151m.
That converts to around £131m, or £6m more than Isak’s record-breaking move, and while that sounds absurd, his performances suggest otherwise.
For example, despite still being just 22-years-old, the “world-class” superstar, as dubbed by former manager Julian Nagelsmann, has racked up 207 appearances for Bayern, totalling 12163 minutes, in which he’s scored 64 goals and provided 39 assists.
That comes out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every other game, or every 118.08 minutes.
Musiala’s Bayern career
Appearances
207
Minutes
12163′
Goals
64
Assists
39
Goal Involvements per Match
0.49
Minutes per Goal Involvement
118.08′
All Stats via Transfermarkt
On top of that, he has already won 40 senior caps for Germany, in which he’s scored eight goals and provided eight assists.
Ultimately, Musiala is an exceptional world-beating talent, and Chelsea must rue the fact that they weren’t able to keep hold of him.
