It might be a lesson that looks to have gone unheeded by the biggest spenders in history. Liverpool have won the Premier League title without a single summer signing starting a top-flight game. It is a sequel of sorts: in 2019-20, they were champions after a transfer window when they did not buy a senior player.
Meanwhile, some £1.2bn of transfer spending later, Chelsea hover perilously in fifth. With three of the top six to play, their exile from the Champions League could yet extend into a third successive season. Pound for pound, and Chelsea have spent more than anyone else, the alliance of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital risks being seen as one of the least successful ever in football.
