Ben Chilwell transfer failure is not Chelsea's biggest regret on January deadline day

It is understandable why we like to see signings made.

The buzz of speculation, the breaking news, the wait for the announcement and the injection of dopamine when that new face holds up the shirt.

There is generally a positive vibe whenever our club signs a new player for all the cynicism you can have about deadline day.

You gauge the vibe around Chelsea fans on January 31st, and there is a sense that the club has failed to support Thomas Tuchel with no new signings in the past month.

But if simply buying someone this month has been framed as an all too simplistic debate that fails to appreciate longer-term issues.

Chelsea did know that Ben Chilwell was highly unlikely to return from an ACL injury this season, prompting the search for an emergency solution which quickly became trying to recall Emerson Palmieri from his loan at Lyon.

Other targets, such as Lucas Digne, went elsewhere. Names such as Sergino Dest from Barcelona seemed plausible but never picked up much speed.

Social media frustration bubbled over when poor results in the league against Manchester City and Brighton coincided with the apparent inaction to boost a tired squad clearly struggling.

However, this month has also been dominated by consistent discussions over a failing attack, which has had £300m worth of investment since January 2019.

Questions have been posed over the club's longer-term strategy and ability to construct a squad that can produce similar results as Manchester City and Liverpool over a 38-game season.

A squad assembled over six different coaches since 2012 after a recent flurry of investment has resulted in more questions than answers, with only Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva proving to be the undeniable successes since