For Chelsea fans, the feeling is a relief. With less than 48 hours until the transfer window closes, the club have turned attention toward the glaring midfield weakness, raising as many questions as it answers.
Firstly, the Blues were reported to have made a £43m offer for Ajax defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez in an attempt to make the most of the one-day early Dutch league window cut-off. Shortly after, more rumours linked Chelsea with interest in PSV's own midfielder Ibrahim Sangare.
It comes after Ruben Loftus-Cheek's injury against Southampton left Thomas Tuchel with Jorginho as his only fit senior option in that position. Billy Gilmour and Carney Chukwuemeka both made the bench but weren't called upon.
READ MORE: Chelsea's next Premier League fixtures compared to rivals Arsenal, Tottenham and Man United
This adds to N'Golo Kante's injury troubles, whilst Mateo Kovacic is just as prone to missing matches more recently. Alongside the lack of a defence-minded player in the squad for that position, Tuchel is still forced to turn to makeshift options or deploy a double-pivot that limits his side in other senses.
To this extent, searching for Alvarez and Sangare, both extremely useful options to have and much cheaper than Declan Rice, who could cost more than £100m if he was to move in the next 12 months, is a good bit of business for Chelsea. The issue is that it has come so late into the window.
Todd Boehly is already rushing around to announce a deal for Wesley Fofana. Keep outgoings moving in the right direction away from Stamford Bridge. He seems set to engage in crunch talks with Barcelona for a convoluted transfer involving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and looking at more attacking options with Wilfried Zaha too. It is a lot for anyone to do, especially a novice and especially a man without previous experience in the role.
It has, in some ways, highlighted what Boehly has done well in his interim sporting director role but also shown the importance once more of getting a permanent appointment in that position as soon as possible. Chelsea needed Boehly to bring in replacements for key senior players leaving the squad this summer, and he has done that along with making strides to firm up the long-term future of the club, but he has also handed Tuchel more responsibility than the coach would like in an ideal world.
It's created a feeling of disorganisation at the club for large parts of the summer, but finally addressing a very big hole in midfield would patch up a lot of that.
READ NEXT:
PSG plot dramatic N'Golo Kante transfer swoop as Christian Pulisic makes huge Chelsea decision
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest updates and rumours from Stamford Bridge
Full Chelsea Premier League fixture list for 2022/23
Chelsea transfer business under the microscope in 'good deal' or 'bad deal'
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Chelsea latest: Xavi snub, Man United interest, personal terms agreed
