Where are they now? The 8 largely awful signings Graham Potter made at Chelsea

Expectations were high for Graham Potter when he joined Chelsea following the shock sacking of Thomas Tuchel in 2022 but his tenure lasted just seven months – and he still oversaw eight signings in just one window. 

Potter managed just 31 games in all competitions before getting sacked. To make matters worse, Chelsea forked out £21.5 million in compensation to Brighton to acquire him and he didn’t even make it to the end of the campaign.

We’ve decided to go back through his time at Chelsea to see where the eight signings that were made under his watch currently are. 

Mykhaylo Mudryk

The Ukrainian superstar was incredibly close to signing for Arsenal before Chelsea swooped in and paid €70million (plus a further €30million in bonuses) to acquire him from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Having starred under ex-Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, he had initially impressed in the Champions League before signing and he dazzled everyone when he made his debut at Anfield in a goalless draw – but things didn’t pan out as expected from that day.

Nearly two years on, Mudryk has failed to establish himself as a starter and has 10 goals in 73 games.

Currently, he battling a provisional suspension from the Football Association after failing a drugs test – and the future is very unclear. Ouch.

Benoit Badiashile 

Signed for £35million, the 21-year-old has endured a mixed time at Chelsea since arriving. Playing just 45 times since injuries and poor form have seen him fail to truly establish himself.

In Maresca’s current side, he is seen as an alternative to the first-choice defenders and with talk of Chelsea targeting another centre-back signing to replace either himself or Axel Disasi, it is safe to say he has struggled to impress, despite the odd showing of quality. 

Noni Madueke

Chelsea brought in the England youngster at the time as a 20-year-old for £30million on a seven-year-deal after impressing with PSV. Since then, he’s gone on to play 68 times for the Blues, netting 15 goals and providing seven assists.

He recently broke into the England set-up under interim boss Lee Carsley but it is unclear if he will continue to have a place in Thomas Tuchel’s new regime. 

Battling with Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho for a place in the side, he has shown plenty of moments of quality, such as his hat-trick against Wolves last August, but consistency is his biggest issue.

He may be on borrowed time as well with the incoming duo of Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian who both arrive this summer and play in his position. 

Malo Gusto

Signed as a future star, Gusto remained on loan at Lyon for the rest of the season at the time but has developed into a key squad player across the past season and a half.

Capable of playing either right-back or left-back, the Frenchman boasts an all-round game and has been an incredibly useful signing given Reece James’ fitness issues. While his current form has dropped, he was a strong performer under Pochettino last season.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? The 11 largely disastrous signings Thomas Tuchel made at Chelsea

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Enzo Fernandez 

The Argentinian broke records after signing for a mammoth £105million from Benfica following his incredible World Cup-winning campaign with Argentina at the Qatar 2022 tournament. 

Seen as the ‘next big thing’ in midfield, he was quickly thrown into Potter’s line-up and had initially impressed, despite people’s perception of him that was warped by the team’s overall struggles at the time. 

He struggled for top form in the 2023-24 season under Mauricio Pochettino but has bounced back under Enzo Maresca this season with three goals and eight assists.

But there’s a feeling in general that we still haven’t seen the best of the 23-year-old.

QUIZ: Can you name Chelsea’s 20 most expensive transfers in history?

Andrey Santos

Another future ‘star’, Santos is yet to feature for Chelsea. He was loaned to Nottingham Forest last season, where he was supposed to thrive and get vital Premier League experience but his loan was ended early after just two appearances. 

This season has been entirely contrasting as he has been a standout performer under Liam Rosenior at Strasbourg.

With seven goals in 18 games from midfield, there has been talk of bringing him back into the squad as early as January but it seems he will be embedded into the squad next summer. 

David Datro Fofana

Perhaps the strangest signing on this list, Fofana penned a six-year-deal but has played just four times and is still contracted to the club seemingly unlikely to ever feature again. 

He has spent the entirety of his time on loan at Union Berlin, Burnley and he currently finds himself at Turkish side Goztepe S.K.

Chelsea fans will point back to a half-time substitution that essentially ended his career at the club, as Potter withdrew him after shining against Southampton. 

There is quality in there, as shown by his long-distance wonder strike against West Ham whilst playing for Burnley last season, but his future is set to be away from the club regardless of the outcome of his current loan.

Joao Felix

Chelsea paid £9.7million to acquire him on loan and he arrived to great fanfare at the time – but his debut was polarising as he shone against Fulham before getting sent off for a high tackle. 

His spell ended with four goals in 19 games before he returned to Spain. Somewhat surprisingly, Chelsea went back into the market for him last summer, signing him for a fee of around £46.3m with Conor Gallagher heading the other way.

The 25-year-old has been a bit-part player who has rarely been given a chance due to featuring in Cole Palmer’s position and has been relegated to the ‘B Team’ which has featured in the UEFA Conference League.

Puzzling.