Chelsea have made a real statement of intent this month under co-owner Todd Boehly. The January transfer window is meant to be a relatively quiet period, with one or two incomings to try and help the squad for the remainder of the season. Try telling that to Chelsea.
£177million. Yes, that much has been spent on six new signings so far – and the general consensus at the moment is that the Blues are not done there. Chelsea are still in the market to try and sign Malo Gusto from Lyon before next week's deadline and there are still murmurs regarding the Enzo Fernandez saga.
It might seem a bit ludicrous to comprehend that Chelsea have made six signings and they're not done there, but that is the reality of where the club are right now. Boehly has made it clear since he came in, with the amount of signings he's made, with the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, that he wants the club to be rebuilt.
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Four of the six Chelsea players that have been recruited this month so far are all either 21-years-old or younger. It's only Joao Felix, who is 23 and on loan, and Mykhailo Mudryk, who is 22, who are slightly older. The plan and vision is clear.
However, with signing so many players in a short period of time comes potential problems, too. There's the question of how long it will take them to adapt to new surroundings – and in these six signings' case; a new league. We've seen clubs purchase large amount of players in the past and it has taken them so long to gel and the manager has ultimately paid the price, as is the case the vast majority of the time in modern football.
For Chelsea this season, without calling it definitely a 'write-off', the last five or so months of the campaign can be used to look ahead to the future for Graham Potter. The Blues are 10th in the Premier League table, 10 points below Manchester United in fourth place.
The prospect of Champions League football next season seems a mere dream right now. Their only avenue into the competition could actually be winning it this season - and not many will be giving Chelsea a chance of doing that either.
Potter said in his very first press conference after being appointed Chelsea head coach that he needs to build multiple things - including respect, trust and honesty - with his players no matter what club he is in charge of. He would have been trying to do that in his first four months as Blues boss but now with six signings, with the possibility of even more coming through the Stamford Bridge door between now and January 31, he needs to do that again.
"The key thing is to try and understand them, what motivates them and what they are like as people," Potter said in September. "From that, try to come to some common ground, build relationships, communicate effectively on a daily basis. And to build respect, build trust, build honesty, so my starting point would always be the person first."
The next few months of the season don't have too much on the line as far as Chelsea are concerned. For Potter, it should be about integrating the new signings, giving minutes to some of the academy players like he has been doing, and monitoring his squad's development.
Next season is the one for Potter. Don't expect Chelsea to be the finished article by then, but next season should see a real push from Potter and his men. He's been heavily backed in the transfer market and once all of his signings are settled into the club, we should start to see the answers to many people's questions right now.
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