A quite remarkable transfer window for Chelsea this summer captivated the minds of many football fans across the globe. The most any English team had ever spent in one transfer window on new players, Chelsea's £270million outlay fell just £35m short of the world record set by Real Madrid in 2019.
Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling. Those four alone represented just over £200m of transfer budget spent, and alongside the signings of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka and more, that figure almost hit £300m. With manager Thomas Tuchel having had a warchest to spend as a result of owner Todd Boehly's first transfer window, results were expected immediately.
Simply put, they didn't arrive. A draw to Tottenham, a 3-0 loss to old enemy Leeds United and a 2-1 defeat to Southampton saw the German on the ropes, and defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League sealed his fate. Graham Potter tried to pick the pieces up, but one win in the last eight games has seen Chelsea drop to 10th in the table.
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It is hard to put the blame at anybody's feet - the squad evidently isn't gelled just yet, there isn't a natural goalscorer in the side and Chelsea are lacking in midfield, too. However, there is one area in which Boehly may feel he has already made a mistake.
Cucurella, as touched on before, cost around £56million from Brighton in the summer. Of course, he had played under Potter before being snatched away from the south Coast, yet fate brought the two back together within a matter of weeks as a result of Tuchel's departure.
Even at the time, that fee looked a little extortionate for a player who had only had one season in the Premier League. Granted, the Spaniard had rightly earned plaudits for his form at the AMEX Stadium, but with other left-backs across the continent heeding cheaper prices - such as Oleksandr Zinchenko's move to Arsenal costing around £40million - Boehly's deal was looked at with some curiosity. Especially when the Blues already had Ben Chilwell at left-back, who many believe to be England's first-choice when fit.
The big kicker here is that even under Potter and even alongside a better standard of player, Cucurella looks to have regressed. There is a sense that he doesn't know how to defend quite like his counterparts in James, Silva and Koulibaly, and so his attacking talents must shine. But he also looks out of his depth in that region.
Cucurella has played in all but one of Chelsea's Premier League fixtures - the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace - and has started in all but three of them. That he hasn't registered an assist since August is quite remarkable, considering the start and reputation he had upon joining. Something isn't quite right and Potter, or whoever may come in after him if this poor form continues, must rectify that.
Even more puzzling is the form of Chelsea's younger left-backs. Lewis Hall, who has been with the Blues for 11 years. The 18-year-old massively impressed in their loss against City in the Carabao Cup just before the World Cup, and did so again against the reigning champions in Thursday's Premier League clash. Certainly, the team had more attacking impetus when he had entered the fray as opposed to Cucurella.
Ian Maatsen is another name who has thoroughly impressed this season; the 20-year-old Dutchman is another name that the Blues have in their ranks, and his incredible attacking demeanour showed this season at Burnley with four goals and four assists shows just what Chelsea are missing as the Clarets have raced to the top of the league.
With Chilwell injured with a hamstring injury, Maatsen and Hall would have been perfect replacements to come into the squad and fill in - at least for their development - whilst he returns to full fitness. However, instead Hall is playing second fiddle to Cucurella, managing just three appearances all season, and Maatsen is unlikely to be called back to the squad given his form at Turf Moor.
The situation is something that Chelsea had been lamented for throughout their time under Roman Abramovich; not allowing talents such as Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah to progress at the club before they became world class stars.
Boehly has at least put in the groundworks with the signings of Omari Hutchinson, Chukwuemeka and Casadei - but he must be wary of doing so again in the coming years with lavish signings that were totally unnecessary.
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