Perhaps it would have been more interesting if Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali had just stood in the centre circle for 90 minutes, acting out their negotiations with Benfica over Enzo Fernández on deadline day. Instead, no doubt to the disappointment of those who reckon winning a transfer window actually counts for anything, there was a game that will linger in the memory only because of Chelsea’s abject failure to produce the kind of football befitting of a spend of over £500m on new signings.
It must have been quite the comedown for the hierarchy. They gazed down from the posh seats, waiting in vain for any sign of a spark from Graham Potter’s side, and suffered along with the rest of Stamford Bridge. The boos at full-time said everything. Chelsea, drifting along in 9th place after two wins from their last 12 games, were bland, directionless and leaden. Positives? Fernández, who was tidy in midfield, albeit without ever quite showing why he cost £106.8m. David Datro Fofana almost scored. The defence kept a clean sheet.
