Chelsea have blown everyone away with their malle billion-pound spending spree.
This week alone, they have left Liverpool with two blou oe by beating them to the punch on the transfers of Moises Caicedo, for a British-record £115m, and Romeo Lavia.
With the current transfer window closing at the end of the month, they have already blown through £800m since Todd Boehly bought out Roman Abramovich in May last year.
That’s an amazing amount of money.
Up and running at Cobham! 🏠@trivago | @MoisesCaicedo55 pic.twitter.com/BpaeiNXdL1
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 16, 2023
During this transfer window alone, they have out-spend the entire La Liga and Saudi Pro League on incomings.
But before we all blow the whistle on them and piemp them to Uefa for breaking their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, the Blues are also making money off player sales.
In fact, according to Transfermarkt.com, they have made £230m in outgoings too - which means only Ajax and Brighton have made more money in the last 12 months than them.
And the experts’ forecast is that they could make another £150m.
The upshot is that no one will be betting on them getting trouble with the authorities, even though the Premier League will be closing the financial loophole that has seen them spread the massive new deals over longer periods of time - with some contracts up to eight years.
What has impressed though, is the incredible turnover of players.
Two years after winning the Champions League, only Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and new captain Reece James remain - with Callum Hudson Odoi also nearing the exit.
And after last season’s insane 12th-placed Premier League finish and three managers, the Blues just have to get rid of Romelu Lukaku and the club could feel pretty normal again.
What’s also impressive is how dramatically the average age of the squad has dropped, with only Silva (38) and Raheem Sterling (28) being the only first-team regulars being over the age of 25.
And with coach Mauricio Pochettino in charge of the squad, they could be a serious team by the end of the season.
With no European football to distract the span, a top-four finish can’t be ruled out.
Defensively, Axel Disasi has already made an instant impact with his equaliser in Sunday’s 1-1 opening Prem draw with Liverpool.
Disasi will compete with Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana, when he is fit again, for a spot alongside the evergreen Silva.
We all know they are stacked with wingbacks.
In midfield, they have the two most expensive players in league history in Caicedo and World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, plus Lavia, Carney Chukwuemeka and Conor Gallagher.
Introducing a new Blue! 🔵 pic.twitter.com/vdHynMOMti
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 18, 2023
Then up front, they have Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Mikhailo Mudryk, with Armando Broja and Christopher Nkunku to come back from injury.
All in all, it’s been good business so far.
Of course, buying young unproven players is a massive gamble.
But they all have enormous potential and expect Chelsea’s bosses to have the patience to see their investments grow a bit before buying nog ‘n shiny nuwe speelding.
Who knows, come the end of the season, the laaities will have fired the Blues back amongst the Prem’s big boys and back into the Champions League.