The contrast between Chelsea's 2023 and 2024 winter transfer windows could not be more stark. Twelve months ago, the Blues put together world-record January spending spree; this year, they did not spend a single penny, and instead tried - and failed - to raise funds through the permanent sales of academy products Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah - transfers that would have represented 100 percent profit as the Boehly-Clearlake ownership aim to ensure they fall in line with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
With the first month of 2024 proving to be a deafeningly quiet one at Stamford Bridge, it is perhaps the perfect moment to reflect on Chelsea's frenzied spending by this point in 2023. Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali bankrolled an eye-watering spend of north of £320 million ($407m) on a handful of players who were supposed to turn the club's fortunes around at the midway point of their dire 2022-23 campaign. Of course, last season proved to be irreconcilable, but what of the big-money new-year arrivals?
A year on from Chelsea's record-breaking January spend, GOAL assesses whether each signing has been a hit or a miss...