Chelsea's "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach to recruitment seems now to be starting to work for them through pure survival of the fittest - but it's hard to ignore the fact they have signed some notable flops over the past few years.
That's not escaped the attention of Alan Stubbs, who was asked to give his view on who the most over-rated player in the Premier League are right now.
The former Bolton, Celtic, Everton, Sunderland and Derby County centre-back believes Chelsea have more than their share of players who are not living up to their price tags - with one drawing particular invective.
Speaking to BestBettingSites.com Stubbs was asked to name the English top flight's most overrated player and responded: "It’s hard to look past some of the signings that Chelsea have made over the last couple of seasons when you think of overrated players.
"I think the most overrated or the biggest disappointment in terms of not living up to the hype, has to be Mykhailo Mudryk. They snatched the player from under the noses of Arsenal, and his capture was presented as a real coup, a statement. He just hasn’t looked anywhere near the player that we all hoped he could be in his time at the club."
That seems like a bit of an odd shout given that practically nobody actually rates Mudryk, but Stubbs went on regardless: "When I watched him playing in the Champions League for Shakhtar Donetsk, I thought that he looked like a world-beater.
"I was really excited to see what he was going to bring to the Premier League, but it hasn’t happened for him. He has just flattered to deceive."
Stubbs then turned his attention on two other big-money Chelsea signings, saying: "Failing [Mudryk], I think serious questions also need to be asked about Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
"They’re both good players, but have they performed anywhere near the level that you expect from midfielders that cost over £100m? I don’t think they’ve made the impact that you’d be looking for from them for such a significant investment.
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"They’re both top players, we’ve seen them do it before, but I haven’t watched them play for Chelsea and seen them dominate. That’s what you expect from players with those kind of price tags."
Chelsea will resume their Premier League campaign away to league leaders Liverpool next Sunday afternoon.
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