You can be forgiven at this final act of an exhausting window to just shrug at the flurry of new names being bandied about. Particularly coming off the sobering defeat to Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday, a loss which uncovered more questions than answers.
Under 24 hours later, three new attacking names were being bandied about: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Anthony Gordon and Rafael Leao. All are reportedly being targeted by the Blues, with the younger pair of Gordon and Leao sparking particular intrigue for different reasons.
If you scanned social media on Monday evening, the mere suggestion that Chelsea had held talks with AC Milan over signing the 23-year-old Leao caused mass excitement. Though it is hard to gauge why, given the current attacking problems.
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As broken by The Times, the Portugal forward is understood to be keen on a switch to the Premier League but his reported £126m release clause makes a deal a tall order this late in the window. Sky Sports reported on Tuesday morning Chelsea are willing to pay £60m to sign Gordon and The Athletic broke the story that the player has told Everton and Frank Lampard he wants to join Chelsea.
Leao is a fast and nimble forward, one who has not only shown good technique in tight areas but also has the possibility to operate across a frontline, something Tuchel clearly desires from a fluid group. There is also the benefit of his increasing ability to finish chances at a young age, netting 14 from a wide position for Milan last term.
Gordon is more of a natural winger, with suggestions he could even be fielded as a wingback given his tenacity and workmates. Both look like good 1v1 players, a trait that was sorely missing for large sections of last season.
However, for all their individual potential could offer interesting solutions to Thomas Tuchel's current dilemma, unless they are used in expansive ways, it is hard to reject the fear they will become another one of Chelsea's frustrated forwards.
Chelsea's xG of 0.69 at Leeds was the lowest accumulated away from home since the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City back in January. The 4-2 defeat to Arsenal back in April was actually lower, and these sorts of numbers are not freakish under Tuchel.
Although in the post-match assessments Tuchel suggested Chelsea could have been 2-0 up before Edouard Mendy lost the ball near his own goalline, the numbers do not agree with him that Chelsea was actually creating any decent opportunities.
More are coming round to accepting a conversation that began not long into Tuchel's reign over a severe lack of creativity. Even in the glow of that historic Champions League win, the league form and results by the end of the 2020/21 campaign had given enough evidence to suggest Chelsea's attacking approach was flawed.
The problem was the following summer was dominated by trying to answer the wrong question. A ruthless no.9 was craved, eventually being Romelu Lukaku. The answer was just finding someone to finish chances. Lukaku brought new issues into an already flawed attack, by the end, his presence had further exposed them.
Chelsea still trailed behind the consistent productivity of Liverpool and Manchester City, and also still spent large periods of games where their attacking threats were anonymous.
Although the seven-touch display of Lukaku brought criticism onto the Belgian's shoulders, little about Sunday's performance suggests there is a fresh upturn after the £97m disappointment was loaned back to Serie A. The issues are more deep-rooted.
There seems to be a consistent trend with Tuchel so far that has limited the expression of attacking talent. The distances between the Blues' front-three is wide, the lack of numbers inside the box when a ball is played in is as equally puzzling as it is self-defeating. The number of runs not found from midfield has become an inside joke amongst supporters.
Once Rodrigo's second goal went in on Sunday, it was very hard to see how Chelsea could recover. Not only because of their individual mistakes but a rarity in being able to score more than two goals under the German. In only 14 of the 60 Premier League games under his coaching have they done so since January of 2021. For comparison, Manchester City have the same just since last December, they've already done it twice in three games in 2022/23.
Pilling more names onto an already underperforming area could further hurt players' development or add to the confusion. There needs to be an evolution, or from the most basic start, a progressive platform to build from that can prove Chelsea are able to create good chances on a regular basis.
New names should no longer be framed as saviours until more structural issues are addressed.
READ MORE
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Why Thiago Silva got angry with Reece James as Leeds expose frustrating Chelsea problem
