Chelsea have signed 16 players and staff from Brighton since BlueCo took over in 2022, spending just shy of £300million in the process – but how have they all fared?
Joao Pedro of Chelsea FC (R) and Moises Caicedo
Chelsea have bought some great players from Brighton, but they've also bought a few duds(Image: Getty)
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Chelsea's relationship with Brighton has become one of the more curious features of the Premier League transfer market in recent years. Since BlueCo's takeover in 2022, the Blues have repeatedly turned to the Seagulls for players, coaches and recruitment staff, with no fewer than 16 individuals making the move from the Amex to Stamford Bridge.
Some of those deals have been considerably more successful than others. Chelsea have spent close to £300million raiding Brighton, while one particularly extravagant managerial deal accounted for several members of that total haul.
With Xabi Alonso's side preparing to face to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday, now feels like the perfect time to revisit every deal between the two clubs and assess how each one has worked out for Chelsea. And while there have been some notable successes, there are also a few transfers the Blues would probably rather forget.
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Zak Sturge - 2/10
First up is a player Chelsea fans could be forgiven for having forgotten about. Zak Sturge never managed to establish himself anywhere near the Blues' senior side.
He spent a season with the Under-21s before heading out on loan to Peterborough and then Millwall. The latter eventually signed him permanently in 2025 for an undisclosed fee. Given his limited senior experience, Chelsea appear unlikely to have recovered anything close to their original investment.
Shumaira Mheuka - 6/10
Chelsea youngster Shim Mheuka
Chelsea youngster Mheuka recently signed a new contract at Stamford Bridge(Image: Chelsea FC)
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Mheuka followed a similar path to Sturge, leaving Brighton's academy for Chelsea. There is one crucial difference, though - the Blues have already seen enough to suggest this particular gamble could eventually prove worthwhile.
Now 18, Mheuka made his Chelsea debut in December 2024 and has since featured nine times for the senior team. He has also committed his future to the club by signing a new contract. Should his development continue at its current rate, Chelsea's initial £1m investment could look increasingly shrewd.
Marc Cucurella - 8/10
Marc Cucurella of Chelsea
Marc Cucurella was a resounding success at Chelsea(Image: 2026 Marc Atkins)
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Cucurella ultimately usurped Ben Chilwell as the club's first-choice left back and developed into one of the Premier League's leading players in the role. His ability to operate at left back, left wing back and as an inverted full back made him particularly valuable, while his attacking contribution became increasingly important towards the end of his Chelsea spell.
His move to Real Madrid this summer leaves a sizeable hole, although Chelsea did at least recoup £51m from the sale - a significant proportion of the original fee.
Four years in west London didn't quite make Cucurella a Chelsea legend, but there is little doubt he ranks among BlueCo's most successful recruits. You could even make a case for him being Chelsea's best left back since Ashley Cole.
Graham Potter (and staff) - 1/10
Graham Potter
Graham Potter's spell in charge was an unmitigated - and expensive - disaster(Image: Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
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Potter was - and still is - a talented coach. But the former Brighton boss arguably arrived at precisely the wrong moment, with Chelsea undergoing an extraordinary rebuild and their new owners tearing apart much of the existing squad while spending huge sums on expensive, largely untested recruits.
Under Potter, Chelsea endured one of the poorest runs of form in the club's history. They eventually finished 12th in the Premier League, despite spending more than £500m on players during that season.
Potter was dismissed in April 2023, with all bar one of his staff eventually following him out of the door. Collectively, the deal stands as one of the costliest managerial misfires the Premier League has seen.
Paul Winstanley - 5/10
Todd Boehly co-owner of Chelsea FC with Sporting Director Paul Winstanley during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea sporting director Paul Winstanley (R), pictured here with co-owner Todd Boehly(Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
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Winstanley arrived as director of global talent and transfers before being promoted to co-sporting director alongside Laurence Stewart in 2023. The pair have since overseen a dramatic reconstruction of Chelsea's squad, as well as the youth-focused recruitment model and long-term contracts that have become synonymous with the BlueCo project.
There have been some obvious successes, most notably Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo. Yet there have also been plenty of expensive question marks, and it remains to be seen whether Chelsea's unconventional approach to recruitment will produce the desired results in the long term. Winstanley, therefore, still has plenty to prove.
Robert Sanchez - 4/10
Robert Sanchez
Robert Sanchez's Chelsea career has been error-strewn(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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Robert Sanchez was initially viewed as something of a stopgap, yet three years after joining Chelsea, he has spent much of that period as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he has also spent much of it under scrutiny.
Calling Sanchez an outright disaster would be harsh, but after three years, it is equally difficult to claim Chelsea have received particularly good value from the relatively modest fee they paid.
Moises Caicedo - 9.5/10
Moises Caicedo of Chelsea
Moises Caicedo has been a fabulous signing for Chelsea(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
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Caicedo has been outstanding since arriving at Stamford Bridge. The Ecuadorian has established himself as one of the world's premier midfielders and has proved more than capable of succeeding the legendary N'Golo Kante as Chelsea's defensive midfield powerhouse.
There is little doubt Caicedo belongs among the defining signings of the BlueCo era. Whatever doubts surrounded his enormous transfer fee at the time, his performances have gone a long way towards justifying it.
Sam Jewell - 6/10
Sam Jewell joined Chelsea in 2024
Sam Jewell joined Chelsea in 2024(Image: Brighton and Hove Albion)
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Jewell became the club's global recruitment director, working under co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. His principal responsibility has been identifying and bringing some of the world's most promising young players to Stamford Bridge.
There have already been some encouraging additions during his time at the club, including Estevao, Mike Penders and Geovany Quenda. However, Chelsea's recruitment record has remained inconsistent, so it is still too soon to give Jewell too much credit for the successes - or blame for the failures.
Joao Pedro - 8/10
Joao Pedro
Joao Pedro is blossoming into a top-class centre forward
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Despite a turbulent campaign for the team, Joao Pedro finished with 20 goals in all competitions, becoming the first Chelsea striker to hit that mark since Diego Costa in 2016/17. The 24-year-old also appears to be improving with every game. He made an excellent start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign too, scoring a superb goal in the Blues' 3-2 win over Fulham.
His versatility, lavish style and finishing ability have given supporters genuine grounds for optimism that Chelsea may finally have a long-term answer at No. 9 - a position that has caused the club headaches for much of the past 15 years.
Facundo Buonanotte - 3/10
Facundo Buonanotte dribbles the ball
Facundo Buonanotte spent just four months on loan at Chelsea(Image: Getty Images)
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He was recruited primarily as cover for Cole Palmer while concerns persisted over the England international's fitness. In reality, though, Buonanotte barely featured. He played just once in the Premier League before Brighton recalled him in January.
Chelsea therefore spent £2m on a player who contributed almost nothing on the pitch, making this one particularly difficult to defend.
Danny Welbeck - N/A
Danny Welbeck
Danny Welbeck's move to Chelsea came as a bit of shock(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
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The transfer was especially intriguing because his arrival, together with that of 36-year-old Jordan Henderson, appears to represent a departure from Chelsea's previously rigid preference for youthful recruits.
But Welbeck has barely had time to settle into life at Stamford Bridge, so it is impossible to make a meaningful judgement just yet. Whether the veteran forward proves to be a clever addition or merely another chapter in Chelsea's ever-growing Brighton recruitment saga remains to be seen.
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