The summer window is officially over, with over £250m was spent by Chelsea's new ownership fronted by chairman and interim sporting director Todd Boehly. It was a record-breaking period for the club, becoming the most ever spent in one window by a Premier League club.
But even if it may seem ridiculous to consider what happens in January, Boehly could again be busy, or more likely, a newly appointed sporting director, getting to work in a challenging market.
Chelsea did miss out on some targets, most of the time that meant they went for someone else. See Kalidou Koulibaly after Matthijs de Ligt, or Denis Zakaria after Edson Alvarez.
READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel's best Chelsea line-up after Todd Boehly's stunning £250m summer transfer spree
Although we are unlikely to see the sort of mass expenditure again anytime soon from Chelsea's new regime, there are still some loose ends hanging about after the deadline passed on Thursday evening.
Here are three players Chelsea are likely to target again in January.
Edson Alvarez
The 11th-hour move for the Ajax midfielder was equally baffling to supporters as it was intriguing. Why did it take Chelsea all summer to realise they might need a new central midfielder? A £50m bid was put down for the 24-year-old defensive midfielder and on Thursday morning, Alvarez was internally pushing for a deal to be done.
But given the deadline for transfers had already passed in the Netherlands, it was too late for Ajax to react, although they would have been well compensated. Chelsea then turned to Zakaria and quickly secured a season-long loan from Juventus.
Does that move completely rule out Alvarez becoming a permanent player? To just spark and then abandon that interest would feel like poor planning, and given Thomas Tuchel's midfield issues so far this season, it may again appear a priority after the World Cup.
Josko Gvardiol
The RB Leipzig defender was linked to Chelsea as far back as April before the takeover had even been fully completed. It was claimed Tuchel highly rated the Bundesliga defender's skillset and that an approach from Chelsea would come. It took nearly the whole summer for that to materialise.
Leipzig did not relent, convincing the 20-year-old Croatian to sign a new contract until 2027. Although that strengthens the Bundesliga club's position, that did not prevent Chelsea from signing Wesley Fofana from Leicester, who had also penned a new deal recently.
It is believed the Blues will return to this issue given Tuchel's liking for the player, and January could prove a telling month in the Croatian's future.
Endrick
The highly touted 16-year-old Brazillian attacker was chased by several top European clubs over the summer, with Chelsea believed to be one of them.
Thriving for Palmeiras' Under 20s, Endrick would have continued the summer trend under Boehly of acquiring young talent with potentially lucrative futures with the club. Omari Hutchinson and Cesare Casadei both come under this bracket, along with others brought into the club's elite academy with the guidance of Neil Bath.
This is a player who is likely to make a move to European football within the next year and Chelsea will hope they can be first in the queue to secure his services come January.
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