Mauricio Pochettino had reportedly wanted to sign at least three new players for his Chelsea squad in January.
During his first transfer window after his arrival at Stamford Bridge in the summer, Pochettino was provided with 12 new players, some of which were regarded as one of the future.
With it coming at a time when 10 first-team players departed the club and others left on loan, there was a greater balance to the squad than under the likes of Graham Potter and Frank Lampard in 2022-23.
However, despite the incomings, six of which were for in excess of £30m, Chelsea find themselves in the mid-table positions in the Premier League table, as they were during the last campaign.
Speculation persisted that further fresh faces would move to the West Londoners in January, even though there was pressure to meet FFP criteria.
© Reuters
Instead, Chelsea failed to make a single senior addition, instead allowing the likes of Ian Maatsen and Armando Broja to go out on loan to Borussia Dortmund and Fulham respectively.
According to journalist Sami Mokbel, who was speaking on the 'It's All Kicking Off' Podcast', Pochettino had initially wanted to make several more statement signings.
Mokbel said: "He went into this January wanting a left-back, potentially a goalkeeper, but definitely a centre-forward. We are now, what, 12 hours or whatever it is away from the deadline - he's not got any of those."
A centre-forward was deemed as most important by many outsiders, particularly if Broja was to leave the club, with Nicolas Jackson having been inconsistent since his arrival from Villarreal and Christopher Nkunku having made just five appearances due to injury.
© Reuters
Pochettino will now rely on the aforementioned pair and Brazilian youngster Deivid Washington, who has been restricted to just two substitute outings in all competitions.
On the goalkeeping front, Djordje Petrovic has made a positive impact while deputising for the injured Robert Sanchez, arguably doing enough to retain his spot between the sticks when the Spaniard has recovered from a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Ben Chilwell has just returned from a hamstring injury to challenge Levi Colwill at left-back, with Malo Gusto able to provide backup until Marc Cucurella has recovered from ankle surgery.
Chelsea and Pochettino did take the decision to recall midfielder Cesare Casadei from his loan stint at Leicester City, with the Italian making his Blues debut off the substitutes' bench against Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Darren Plant
