Having added three defenders at the cost of £165.8million, it would be easy to believe that Chelsea would hope not to add more players to their backline. Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella all arrived for significant fees, following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, to join a cohort that includes Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah in addition to Cesarr Azpilicueta, Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
However, the Blues failed in their attempts to land another defender capable in the centre of defence in Josko Gvardiol. The RB Leipzig defender has become increasingly prominent as the World Cup has continued due to a series of performances that belie the 20-year-old's tender age.
National coach Zlatko Dalic has even went so far as to label the youngster the 'best central defender in the world' during the tournament. The Croatian coach added: “He is so strong, confident and elegant at the same time, and does everything with incredible ease.”
