It's been another miserable season of football for Chelsea fans this year.
Mauricio Pochettino has failed to create an effective team at Stamford Bridge, and aside from an imposing FA Cup Semi-Final against Manchester City on the horizon, there is nothing left to play for in 2023/24.
One of the few positives to come out of this year for the Blues is Cole Palmer, who has been a revelation at the Bridge and almost singlehandedly saved the team from a relegation fight. However, he's earning considerably less than a former flop used to.
Cole Palmer's salary at Chelsea
The Pensioners paid Manchester City £42.5m to sign Palmer in the dying days of the summer transfer window last year, and to say they've already got their money's worth would be a colossal understatement.
In his first full season of regular senior football, the Wythenshawe-born gem has returned a staggering 32 goal involvements in 37 games, with 19 of those being goals and 13 being assists.
Appearances
37
Goals
19
Assists
13
Goal Involvements per Match
0.86
These are vital contributions as well, such as the opener against Arsenal at home, the late equaliser against City last year, or the incredibly dramatic last-second winner against Manchester United last week.
The "exceptional" talent, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has been the shining light in Chelsea's bleakest of seasons, yet his £75k-per-week salary means that 15 players earn more than him in the squad.
However, what's even more surprising is that a former flop used to earn 2.4 times more than the young superstar despite doing very little to warrant it.
Callum Hudson-Odoi's salary at Chelsea
The former flop in question is Cobham graduate Callum Hudson-Odoi, who earned an enormous sum of money in west London before finally leaving last summer. But before we get to that, let's look at his Chelsea record.
The Wandsworth-born ace spent five seasons in and around the first team from 2017/18 to 2021/22, in which he made 126 appearances, scored 16 goals, provided 21 assists, and made a real name for himself as one of the most exciting up-and-coming youngsters in English football. So much so that in October 2020, Bayern Munich made an offer to take him on loan with a £70m option to buy.
This hype saw his wages soar from just £400-per-week in the 17/18 season to £2500-per-week the season after and £120k-per-week in 19/20 all the way to £180k-per-week for the 20/21 and 21/22 campaigns – a staggering increase of 44,900%.
Unfortunately for all involved, this coincided with multiple injury problems and a downturn in form, which led to a doomed loan move to Bayer Leverkusen for the 2022/23 campaign to try and rediscover his magic.
Upon his return to London, the former wonderkid remained a Chelsea player for another four weeks before finally leaving the Bridge for good to join Nottingham Forest, where he has since started to impress again.
Total Wages
£25.7m
Appearances
126
Cost per Appearance
£204k
Goals
16
Cost per Goal
£1.6m
Assists
21
Cost per Assist
£1.2m
Goal Involvements
37
Cost per Goal Involvement
£694k
So, when accounting for his wages during the five seasons and four weeks he was actually at the club, the 23-year-old cost the Pensioners a mindboggling £25.7m. In other words, he cost £1.6m-per-goal, £1.2m-per-assist, or £204k-per-appearance – talk about value for money.
Ultimately, the case of Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea is another 'what could've been' regarding an incredibly promising but injury-prone player. However, it still seems absurd to this day that he saw a wage rise of 44,900% and earned over double what Palmer does today.
Chelsea were bled dry by Conte flop who earned 3x more than Gallagher
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ByJack Salveson HolmesApr 9, 2024
