Record signings and Chelsea don't go well together. They've broken the British transfer record multiple times in their history now while even internally they haven't done that well.
It was just over 18 months ago when they came close to spending £100m for the first time, settling on £97.5m for Romelu Lukaku. That hasn't gone down well. Since that point they've spent another £600m on players and have finally smashed through that barrier, reclaiming the most expensive transfer tag when signing Enzo Fernandez in January for £106.8m.
His challenge to beat the previous British transfer record holders for Chelsea isn't too hard. Fernando Torres achieved a solid amount but didn't score the goals of a £50m player in that time. Andriy Shevchenko was a Ballon d'Or winner and was even worse than Torres.
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At 22, thankfully, Fernandez has a lot of time in front of him and a mammoth contract to work through. The early signs are promising. One thing fans might have to stomach is that the Argentine isn't going repay the faith with goals. He's not a prolific goalscorer which makes it hard to quantify his quality.
This will be tough to stomach for purists. Is there a level of style, grace and skill behind goals and assists that can possibly be worth £100m? That's a moral question that arguably goes beyond just football, and not one for here. Gary Neville has already said that a midfielder shouldn't be worth that amount of money - bearing in mind Manchester United paid £89m for Paul Pogba in 2016 this is funny.
It's goalscorers and wingers that dominate these records but it doesn't mean value for money cannot be found. Rio Ferdinand was an extremely expensive centre-back in 2000 but genuinely transformed the position as a whole for English football. There aren't many Fernandez-type players around either and Chelsea's hope is that they can get the most out of him as a catalyst and a fulcrum for years to come.
Ray Parlour agrees. The former Arsenal man has admitted that it's a huge cash sum to pay but that it's possible to get your money's worth for him too. Speaking to AceOdds he said: "Well, he's a young lad, but from what I've seen so far he looks good, he really has. He looks like he can adapt right into the Premier League straight away.
"But in this day and age, prices are so inflated. You go back to Virgil van Dijk going to Liverpool for £70 million. Everybody was like '£70 million for a centre half?' Now what he's achieved at Liverpool has been amazing. No one worries about the fee after that. He's been money well spent from Liverpool's point of view.
"I think Fernandez could be the same. Now he's got to knuckle down. He's a young lad, he's only going to improve, he's played in the World Cup winning side in Argentina."
The van Dijk point is perhaps prominent here. The Dutchman was a gamble at his price, something Chelsea themselves weren't willing to go close to despite interest at the time. As a Premier League proven player his price was also inflated for the period but that has been well and truly paid back now.
As a world champion, and a key part in that team, Fernandez had a premium attached to his head, one that Chelsea were willing to splash out.
"I think the money is definitely inflated," Parlour continued. "But that's the going rate right now. People have release causes in their contract and you've got to meet these causes, or you don't sign them.
"I think that he's gonna be a good signing and I think in three or four years time, people might forget about how much he was when he's doing well for Chelsea."
That is the ultimate goal here. Chelsea have consistently had tags attached to players. The £100m man. They were determined to keep the price below £80m for Wesley Fofana over the summer to ensure that didn't effect him while Marc Cucurella's price tag has already had an impact on his state, evidence of the weight it can carry.
Van Dijk and Liverpool found the perfect middle ground though, it was a big fee for what has turned out to be a big player. Chelsea are hoping for the same outcome.
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