Demba Ba was a useful bench player for Chelsea last season, but they've opted to cash in on him as they overhaul their striking corps. He's off to Besiktas after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms with the Turkish club.
Chelsea sell Demba Ba to Besiktas
The Blues have done well to get back what they paid for the Senegalese forward.
Jamie McDonald
Besiktas president Fikret Orman was quoted as saying “Chelsea initially wanted £10million for Ba, but we have negotiated a price we are happy with,” so it’s likely that the Blues were able to get somewhere in the neighborhood of the £7m they originally paid for Ba.
During his time at Chelsea, starting in January of 2013, Ba scored 14 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions. He was regularly used as a substitute, and was an important part of their run to the Champions League semifinal last season, scoring three goals in that competition.
Ba becomes the second striker to depart Chelsea this summer, with the club having opted to not renew Samuel Eto'o's contract. The club would probably like to sell Fernando Torres if possible as well, but he'll probably be staying put. With Diego Costa joining up and Romelu Lukaku still on the books at Chelsea, Ba was clearly surplus to requirements, especially since moving Torres is going to be very difficult.
All of the strikers currently at Besiktas had disappointing 2013-14 campaigns, so Ba should be first choice from the start of his career there.
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