Ipswich’s first XI vs. Chelsea cost less than Cole Palmer, but they almost won

Chelsea are the Premier League‘s big spenders, having splashed over €1.5 billion on players in the last few years under chairman Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital — with another €75 million on young Sporting CP duo Geovany Quenda and Dário Essugo to come.

But spending money doesn’t always guarantee success.

The Blues sit fifth in the Premier League table and are struggling to cement European football for next season as they went down 2-0 to relegation candidates Ipswich Town on Sunday before a stunning strike from Jadon Sancho rescued a 2-2 draw.

While Ipswich laid out €150m on new players in 2024-25 after their promotion from the Championship, the cost of the squad they put out to face Chelsea is quite incredible in comparison to their opponents. Just take a look for yourself.

However, even this result (they’ve not won at Stamford Bridge since May 1979) might not save them from the drop, as they remain 12 points adrift of safety with six games left.

All fees via Transfermarkt.

CHELSEA – 4-2-3-1

First XI: €504.3m
Bench: €187.9m
TOTAL: €692.2m

GK: Robert Sánchez – €23m
DEF: Trevoh Chalobah – Free (academy)
DEF: Levi Colwill – Free (academy)
DEF: Tosin Adarabioyo – Free (from Man City)
DEF: Marc Cucurella – €65.3m
MID: Moisés Caicedo – €116m
MID: Enzo Fernández – €121m
FW: Pedro Neto – €60m
FW: Cole Palmer – €47m
FW: Noni Madueke – €35m
ST: Nicolas Jackson – €37m

Substitues

Christopher Nkunku – €60m
Malo Gusto – €30m
Jadon Sancho – Loan
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – €35.4m
Benoît Badiashile – €38m
Tyrique George – Free (academy)
Josh Acheampong – Free (academy)
Filip Jørgensen – €24.5m
Reece James – Free (academy)

IPSWICH – 4-2-3-1

First XI: €39.6m
Bench: €46.3m
TOTAL: €85.9m

GK: Alex Palmer – €2.4m
DEF: Axel Tuanzebe – Free (from Manchester United)
DEF: Cameron Burgess – €880,000
DEF: Dara O’Shea – €14.2m
DEF: Leif Davis – €1.2m
MID: Jens Cajuste – Loan
MID: Sam Morsy – €1.5m
FW: Jack Clarke – €17.7m
FW: Julio Enciso – Loan
FW: Ben Johnson – Free (from West Ham)
ST: George Hirst – €1.7m

Substitutes

Christian Walton – Loan
Jaden Philogene – €23.7m
Conor Chaplin – €875,000
Conor Townsend – €590,000
Nathan Broadhead – €1.7m
Luke Woolfenden – Free (academy)
Massimo Luongo – Free (from Middlesbrough)
Liam Delap – €17.8m
Jack Taylor – €1.7m