If you can't beat them, join them, people say.
Chelsea weren't able to sign Erling Haaland in the summer of 2021 with the Norwegian forward costing too much and being an unviable deal for Roman Abramovich at Chelsea. After the striker buried 27 goals in 26 league matches if there was ever a time to go big then it was probably then.
The club decided against jumping the queue on Haaland one-year ago and were quickly made to pay for it. Before Chelsea could complete a takeover or even get out of their stage of being a sanctioned asset as part of the UK Government's plan to punish Abramovich, Manchester City had reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund for less than half the price Chelsea had been negotiating the year before. That £97million spent on Romelu Lukaku looks even worse now.
