Chelsea may find that money can buy them happiness – but it can't enable them to register all their new stars in their Champions League squad.
The Blues have had the most eye-catching window of anyone in Europe, shelling almost £300 million for some of the world's most exciting talent. The sheer cost of the talent that's arrived through the Stamford Bridge revolving door means that on average, each of their eight January buys has set them back over £30m.
That's a lot of talent to add to a team – but with only three spots available to add to their European squad for the second half of the season, there are some decisions ahead for Graham Potter.
Who will Chelsea register in their European squad?
Chelsea made eight signings during the month of January, though Malo Gusto is staying on loan with Lyon until the summer.
Benoit Badiashile from Monaco was the first before David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos arrived. Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid came next before fellow Arsenal target Mykhaylo Mudryk – then Noni Madueke, before the final flourish of World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez for over £100m.
So let's just add the two no-brainers to the squad already: Mudryk and Fernandez. They cost over a combined £160m – without add-ons – and with only Jorginho leaving to Arsenal respectively, one of the new Blues is a natural replacement.
That just leaves one spot left – so let's discount David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos. Both are much lower profile at 20 and 18 years old respectively, with neither of them likely to kick up too much of a fuss at a snub. Madueke cost almost £30m but he too is just 20, has very little Champions League experience and is new to the Premier League – so it's easy for Graham Potter to make the case to him that it's a good thing for him to be eased into life in west London.
Essentially, that makes the choice between Badiashile and Felix as to who gets the last place in the squad. And it's a tough decision.
Felix was brought in for this very reason. He has plenty of experience at the very highest level for Atletico, Benfica and Portugal, and with a £9m loan fee, Chelsea will want to get the very most of their signing… especially considering the cost-per-games ratio has risen with a three-match ban following a red card on his Premier League debut.
Chelsea have looked much better defensively with Badiashile in tow, however. They have a plethora of attacking options in the league, including the presumably-fresh Madueke and Fofana, but not quite the same wealth of options at the back – especially with an ageing Thiago Silva, a disappointing Kalidou Koulibaly and Potter wanting a back three as an option, not to mention injuries.
Registering Mudryk, Fernandez and Badiashile for the next round of the Champions League gives them a forward, a midfielder and a defender, too: nice and balanced. So while Felix probably thought he'd at least play the Round of 16 in this year's competition, he could've only gone as far as parent club Atletico Madrid, dumped out in the groups.
Thinking more like Football Manager at least by telling a loanee that he's not a part of your plans for a certain competition, you don't have to endure his seething contempt towards you beyond the summer. Football moves fast: who'd have thought when Felix was signed that he was facing missing out from the Champions League squad altogether?
