Just over 15 months ago, Chelsea made a transfer decision that they would regret. It wasn't Todd Boehly, the Roman Abramovich administration was in charge, but the choice still stands and looks worse as time goes on.
With Thomas Tuchel desperate to sign a new midfielder given the fitness issues for N'Golo Kante and the only other senior options being Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, Chelsea left it late to do their business. At that stage they hadn't signed a midfielder on a permanent deal since 2019. They still haven't now.
It was during last summer that the Blues had the chance to bring in Monaco starlet Aurelien Tchouameni, but they were not set on his readiness for first team football. Twelve months later and the Frenchman joined Real Madrid in a massive £80million move. Several months on and he scored against England in the World Cup.
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Ahead of the January transfer window opening next month, Tchouameni's goal acts as a message and a warning for Boehly. Whilst the Blues remain desperate to bring in a new midfielder, getting the player right will be just as important.
In the summer they once more had to act late to bring in Denis Zakaria on loan, but his time has hardly gone swimmingly, only making his first appearance after eight weeks at the club. His temporary deal could be cut short over the winter, such is the failure of the move.
Boehly has been more active in recruiting young players than the back end of Abramovich's era was though, and his willingness to pursue talented players of all age groups is a good sign. Under the new ownership it is hard to imagine the Tchouameni slip happening again.
To combat missing out on someone as skilful and dynamic as Tchouameni, both Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice - opponents for France and England on Saturday night - are on their transfer shortlist. football.london also understands that Edson Alvarez remains an option, especially in January.
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