Todd Boehly has had a difficult start to life as owner of Chelsea, arriving immediately into a transfer window with the club not allowed to make any preparations in the previous three months due to sanctions on the club and its former owner Roman Abramovich.
With Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leaving on free transfers in the summer, plus plenty of speculation about the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, a defensive rebuild was needed - with Emerson Palmieri also leaving late in the window. In attack, meanwhile, club record signing Romelu Lukaku secured a loan move back to Inter after just one year in West London, failing to deliver on his £97.5million move from Serie A. He was joined in his exit by Timo Werner, who headed back to RB Leipzig in a deal worth around £25million.
In midfield there has been plenty to ponder as well, with Jorginho and N'Golo Kante both heading into the last years of their deals and questions over whether Conor Gallagher would indeed be bedded into the team or make another move away following a successful loan spell at Crystal Palace.
READ MORE: The surprise £8m transfer Chelsea are trying to complete before deadline day ends
In his role as interim sporting director, Boehly has brought in a number of players to help Thomas Tuchel try to build a team to compete on multiple fronts this season. Despite a slow start to the window, players began to arrive in August as Raheem Sterling joined from Manchester City in a move worth around £50million.
In defence, around £100million was spent on centre-back pairing Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana, with a further £60million splashed out on Marc Cucurella, who can play either as a wing-back or left-sided centre-back. And those deals have also been supplemented by the arrivals of promising Aston Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina. Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is also expected to seal a move after arriving in London for a medical.
While Chelsea did not get every target they wanted, with Jules Kounde and Raphinha both notable players who escaped their grasp, Boehly has had a lightning start to life in the Premier League - and former Chelsea player Jason Cundy says the American owner has done alright so far.
"It was a start for Boehly," Cundy said on talkSPORT. "Marina went, Cech went, they had to do it from scratch and I think they’ve done a pretty good job bearing in mind the restrictions that the club was placed under for three or four months. I think he’s done very well.
"[Aubameyang has] worked with [Tuchel] before, I thought Broja looked really good and there wasn’t many good things about Southampton but I think he looked a handful, gives us a focal point, big physical presence up front.
"Aubameyang is a different player but a proven goalscorer. If he scores anywhere near the goals he scored for Barcelona he’d be a big asset."
READ NEXT
Chelsea are still working on nine deals on summer transfer deadline day including Edson Alvarez
Aubameyang and Zaha sign, Frenkie de Jong u-turn – Chelsea's dream transfer deadline day
Edson Alvarez and Rafael Leao sign - Todd Boehly's best and worst Chelsea transfer deadline day
Chelsea transfer business under the microscope in 'good deal' or 'bad deal'
