Bogarde signed for Chelsea in 2000?01. Only weeks after signing his contract with the club, newly-appointed manager Claudio Ranieri wanted the player to leave.[6]
According to Bogarde, it would be next to impossible to find a team that would offer him a contract comparable to the one he had at Chelsea; he was astounded at the salary the club had agreed on, as his value depreciated severely due to lack of first-team action. He decided to stay at Chelsea honouring his contract to the letter (as he could not get a similar salary anywhere else) and appearing to training every day, but only played for the team very sparingly.[7] Of his contract he said, "Why should I throw fifteen million Euro away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract." In the end, he only appeared eleven times during his four-year contract, reportedly earning £40,000 a week during this period. Furthermore, Chelsea won a domestic trophy during this period triggering a bonus payment in agreement with his contract, despite Bogarde not featuring at all for Chelsea that season.[8]
After playing as a substitute against Ipswich Town on Boxing Day in 2000,[9] Bogarde only made one more appearance for Chelsea's first team before his contract expired in July 2004; it was also made from the bench, against Gillingham for the season's League Cup, on 6 November 2002.[10]
During his period at Chelsea, the club repeatedly tried to offload Bogarde because of his inflated wages. When there were no takers, Chelsea demoted him to the reserve and youth teams in an effort to force Bogarde to leave. He also became a figure of ridicule in the English press for his alleged selfishness.[11] Of the derision he received at the hands of the press, Bogarde responded, 'This world is about money, so when you are offered those millions you take them. Few people will ever earn so many. I am one of the few fortunates who do. I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership but I don't care.'[12]
