Chelsea, it is fair to say, have been a better selling club in the past seven years than they have been a buying one. Since the horror window of summer 2018, they have managed to sell £794.5million ($1.02bn) worth of players having spent £1.35billion ($1.74bn) in the same period.
It is of little solace to still be that wasteful and come no closer than a third-place finish in a race for the Premier League, but it is the outgoings that have proved more fruitful than those that have arrived. Highlights of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Alvaro Morata for high fees despite their relatively bleak club prospects are standouts.
This window has perhaps been the best since 2018 and 2019 when it comes to sales. £188.6million ($242.2m) worth of first-team players has exited without too much worry. The general consensus was that such a clearout was necessary, there are four players over the age of 30 that have been sold or released with seven of the nine being 27 or older.
The youth influx and planning has become clearer as the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital regime have continued their work at Stamford Bridge but yet it is 24-year-old duo Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, two players many had seen as being central to the owner's long term plans, that have brought in the most money.
The scale and scope of the shedding from the squad has been such that even those with their prime years ahead of them are not safe from being sold. Mauricio Pochettino is determined to form a cohesive, tight-knit group both on and off the pitch and those that aren't committed to the cause won't be held onto.
The optics of this are poor when it means selling Mount and Havertz to direct rivals plus Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City but simply moving on those that are seen as having more monetary value than footballing input isn't as foolish as it seems.
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In this camp is the sale of Christian Pulisic. As a 24-year-old with more experience at the top level than both Mount and Havertz, plus the marketability of being America's biggest star, his value may well appear to be much closer to that of his younger teammates than the ageing members that were moved on later into their careers.
However, AC Milan are only set to pay £18.9 million ($24.2m) for the USMNT attacker, a tiny return on the £58million ($74m) Chelsea paid for him as a 20-year-old in 2019. Even with just one year on his contract, the same as Mount and only one less than Havertz, it is a lowerly fee.
This is a player with nearly 300 career club games as well as 57 international caps before he turns 25. Pulisic has been a core member side that have won the German Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and CONCACAF Nations League. His best years are still to come but yet his price reflects little of his undoubted talent.
However, CIES football observatory doesn't see Chelsea as being ripped off. The site gives Pulisic a £25.6milllion ($32.8m) transfer value with three years left on his contract. With no sign of a renewal coming through his four-year stay in London, the price being offered by Milan would seem to be perfectly fair.
Chelsea were keen to get more than £12million ($15.4m) for him to ensure they recorded a profit on the books due to his amortized cost and will end up with more than that. The larger issue at hand here is that in 2019 they signed a player that Transfermarkt valued at £51million ($65.4m), paid slightly more than that at the time and have only seen his price drop since then.
It is a damning indictment of the graveyard Stamford Bridge has become for all attackers whether young or old, experienced or baby-faced. Instead of raising his profile on and off the field in the years since they have only seen a massive hit taken and the overall loss of £40million ($51.4m) represents the clearest indication of just how badly managed it has all been.
