It is quite remarkable that Chelsea are on course to spend their most ever in a single transfer window but will likely end it again having ignored one of their most pressing concerns.
Yes reader, here we are again. I am now the embodiment of the Bernie Sanders meme, I am once again asking Chelsea to sign a new central midfielder, particularly one who has defensive qualities.
Many conversations around Chelsea's squad have felt tiresome and repetitive in recent years. What will happen with Callum Hudson-Odoi? Will Christian Pulisic ever rediscover his lockdown form? And will the club finally replace the talismanic presence of Diego Costa?
READ MORE: Anthony Gordon and Rafael Leao to Chelsea: Transfer dream won't fix Thomas Tuchel oldest flaw
Since 2018/19, almost every area of Chelsea's squad has been revamped or had significant investment in it. Reaching nearly £400m in attack, over £100m in left-back and likely similar in the centre of defence before this window concludes. But a defensive midfielder is one area that has been omitted.
Maybe the reasoning could relate to the club's main target in Declan Rice being unattainable again, a situation that could be different in another 12 months' time as the player's contract ticks down. But the Leeds defeat again highlighted a core issue in the squad, particularly if Thomas Tuchel wants to play more expansively.
Jorginho's Chelsea career has gone better than many would have expected during his first season when he faced heavy scrutiny and even some jeers from his own crowd, 2021 was a standout year for the Italian with the Champions League win and success with his nation at the European Championships.
But as tidy as he can be with the ball with a team who wants to control possession, questions over his physicality and athleticism have never gone away, all the more exposed when N'Golo Kante is not present.
In the second half at Leeds when Tuchel wanted to move to a 4-3-3, Jorginho will always be susceptible to being outmanoeuvred and isolated if the right structure is not around him, something Tuchel put careful attention to implementing when he replaced Frank Lampard in 2021.
That strategy has only got Chelsea so far, and Jorginho is not the only issue, Kante's fitness remains a consistent concern, even Mateo Kovacic has not proved durable enough to avoid a few injuries over the course of the season. Even if you point to the likes of Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Carney Chukwuemeka and Billy Gilmour, few of them offer what Chelsea have lacked over the past five years.
The only other notable addition in that same time period was last year's loan of Saul Niguez from Atletico which you might have already forgotten happened, which tells its own story.
Passing on Aurelien Tchouameni 12 months ago due to concerns over his experience has proved to be an unwise decision given his rapid rise and subsequent sale to Real Madrid from Monaco. Links to Frenkie De Jong do little to resolve this issue, even if his talent could provide a bit more creativity.
Rushing hastily for a backup never made much sense in this window, but given the sheer expenditure of around £145m that could be pushed through on names like Anthony Gordon, Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, this upcoming season could again be dominated by conversations over the lack of a new midfielder, something Boehly will have to invest in over the next 12 months with Jorginho and Kante's contracts ticking down.
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