For the third successive summer window, Chelsea have been the most active club in the transfer market.
Since the Todd Boehly consortium bought the club, they have spent in excess of ₤1. 2 billion on players, and although there have been some outgoings to defray the expense, the strategy behind such a high turnover is players is not obvious to outsiders.
Nor is the thinking behind the decision to award a new deal to Cole Palmer, who was already on a long-term contract. Or the decision to allow academy product and crowd favourite Conor Gallagher to leave the club.
Currently there are 43 players in the first-team squad, whereas Premier League teams are only allowed to name 25 for the season, eight of whom must be homegrown.
That means, with further arrivals expected before the window closes, that some temporary home will need to be found for some deemed surplus to requirements for now.
Given that other clubs will be aware of their situation,. They are likely to play tough when it comes to negotiations over transfer and loan fees.
