Even if some supporters are already growing tired of the constant rumours linking players to Chelsea without much apparent movement, it does appear clear that the Blues are working on a deal for Ousmane Dembele.
The Barcelona winger is out of contract at the end of this month and reports from Spain indicate how serious Chelsea are in recruiting the 25-year-old.
Sport reported that Dembele has even had a meeting with his former coach Thomas Tuchel over the potential move to west London this summer, discussing plans for how the Frenchman would fit into next season's attacking plans. It feels ironic that at the same time reports discuss potential arrivals, chat of Romelu Lukaku's exit pinpoints a major transfer failure.
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It was last summer that Lukaku was hailed as the one thing Chelsea lacked in the final third, not too dissimilar to how Dembele is being framed now for different reasons. More focus turned to the winger's creativity compared to his goals.
Lukaku returning was supposed to signal an upgrade rather than a further spiral in attacking frustration. The Belgian has now opened talks over a return to Inter Milan and it appears the 29-year-old, who last summer was lapping up the adoration and speaking in glowing terms about the club, now is doing everything he can to leave it.
The reflections and recriminations over this debacle can be left for another day, the clearest lesson to take from this toxic fallout should never be repeated. Transfers go wrong, players move on and sometimes the best-laid plans are scuppered by bad fortune.
Though with Lukaku, this feels like a £100m representation of why Chelsea's transfer approach cannot keep peddling along unaltered. Lukaku was a bad fit, not only in terms of his character off the pitch that angered supporters, but also his style on it.
Tuchel agreed to the Lukaku deal but never showed any signs of appreciating he had added a player that did not suit his basic requirements. He was never going to adapt and to be fair to Tuchel, Lukaku didn't show much ambition to either.
Given conversations have already happened with Dembele, you would like to think the pleasantries always present during the honeymoon period actually have some substance once the slog of a pressurised season sets in.
Where does Dembele fit? How does Dembele's skillset translate to Chelsea's approach? How do his attributes align with other key players Tuchel would look to play around him? Does he actually press?
Some of these questions might sound insultingly obvious, however, given that over £300m has been spent on attackers since 2019 and the Blues are no closer to a Premier League title, one ponders whether these have been given serious scrutiny in the current process when deciding to invest on a new player.
The greatest benefit Dembele has over Lukaku is a previously fruitful working relationship with Tuchel. The pair know each other and Tuchel has waxed lyrical over the winger's unique talent. Dembele at Dortmund was a game-changer, a versatile player who was moved around to accommodate the situation.
Given this, you would hope that the sudden awkwardness with Lukaku or other attackers would be greatly lessened. The only doubt comes from his serious injury record with Barcelona and no previous experience in the Premier League.
Dembele still looks on the face of it like a deal worth doing but the need for clarity and deeper inspection over the potential pitfalls of attacking additions has never been as important to Chelsea.
