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 that busy 2020 summer.
Simply buying someone for £20-30m, this window would have likely satisfied the craving for non-stop signings but could have resulted in even more questions.
The great irony around the pursuit of Emerson is that he is the result of a January signing that failed to improve first-team options radically.
It was pinpointed by the £50m arrival of Chilwell two years later from Leicester City.
Emerson now is on course to finally depart permanently in the summer after being deemed surplus to requirements in 2021.
He is a symptom of a much wider problem.
Not signing an emergency left-back is highly unlikely to be the reason Tuchel's second half of the season goes awry.
The result against Spurs proved that there is more than enough quality to secure a Champions League spot and compete in the cups as Chelsea regularly do.
The bigger and more substantial lesson to come from January grumbles should be how Chelsea's recruitment model is structured.
This is exactly what 2022 should introduce. What profile of players suit Tuchel's system? If we are looking for a Chilwell backup, then that player should fill a similar skillset even if you are unlikely to find talent as impressive.
Look at the role Konstantinos Tsimikas has played for Liverpool since signing from Olympiacos for £11m in 2020. A competent replacement for Andy Robertson, whose attributes are not radically different to Jurgen Klopp's first choice.
Until a more streamlined and well thought out plan is set out that lets go of unwanted players rather than keeping them on the books as their value dramatically depreciates, this loop will continue.
If you are critical of the recruitment Chelsea have made on attack and other areas, why did you suddenly trust them to get it right in January?
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