When it comes to underperforming forwards, Chelsea are pretty much world experts. Since 2011 they have signed Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alexandre Pato, Radamel Falcao, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech, none of which have been value for money.
It's a list that makes Blues fans laugh at the poorness of each player, though Havertz still has a chance to overcome his below par Chelsea career - Pulisic and Ziyech fall short of having scored a Champions League winning goal and are not winning over the fanbase.
Although not all of the failed attackers were bemoaned in their time at Stamford Bridge - Torres became a cult hero figure and Werner was praised despite his weaknesses as a Premier League player - the overarching theme of money not well spent is evident.
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It's not been for the want of trying. Chelsea have spent over £300million on attackers to try to make it work and the best they got was arguably Tammy Abraham or Olivier Giroud.
The most recent purchase is Raheem Sterling. His start at Chelsea, four goals and an assist in a struggling team, comes as no surprise given his previous league acumen. It's an example that sticks out because of the in-league move. Other than Torres - and to some extent Lukaku, though he was brought from Italy - nobody had played in England for more than one season before Chelsea splashed the cash.
Having sold Werner for a cut-price back to RB Leipzig this summer, where he has scored four goals with three assists so far in nine appearances in all competitions, Chelsea cut ties with a failed big money move that people thought would transform the attack.
Now, this summer it was Liverpool who spent big on a forward. After making the shrewd signing of Luis Diaz in January it is the first major move for the Reds up front since Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane. Moving ahead of Manchester United to sign Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez was a big coup for Jurgen Klopp, but early criticism of his striker has seen similar comparisons come up again.
Former Chelsea right-back Glenn Johnson said, "There's always a risk that he could become someone like Timo Werner. Just because a player flourishes away from the Premier League, doesn’t mean they’ll do it straight away."
Although it is a harsh comparison, there are similarities in the deal. At 23, Nunez is one of the hottest forwards in the world. He scored 26 league goals in Portugal last year, bursting onto the scene as an exciting prospect. Although it is just one huge season, of which the type does happen in relative one-offs, the forward showed Champions League quality as well, getting six in 10 matches.
In Werner's last season before joining Chelsea he scored 28 league goals, that was backed up by 29 in the two seasons before that and a breakout 21-goal season aged 20. Werner's form, as well as his blistering pace, was backed for Premier League success.
Werner was, before he joined Chelsea, a big target for Klopp. With his speed and Bundesliga experience, the German connection and ability to play as a striker and wider forward, Werner seemed to fit the bill for the Reds. Given how his Chelsea career panned out, even with the volume of chances he would have received it is hard to see Werner scoring too many more at Anfield.
Two years at Chelsea later and Werner had only managed 10 league goals, hitting six in his first season and just four in his second, with half of those coming against Southampton. In the other 52 league games he scored five goals and got 12 assists.
For Nunez, who made an immediate impact on his Liverpool debut, scoring against Fulham with near enough his first touch, going on to record an assist in his first 45 minutes as well, it has been an early struggle. He was sent off against Crystal Palace for a frustrated headbutt and was only getting back into the swing of things as the international break came about.
Much like the former Premier League pantomime villain Luis Suarez, Nunez is now being watched heavily and provoked by defenders. It's something that has frustrated Klopp: "It is clear it will get better with time. We live in a world where everybody gets judged on first sight and that’s not helpful for anybody but it happens constantly.
"In the first few games [of pre-season] we were not even close to the fitness level of today and then when he came on, we passed each ball for him to chase it and after the third ball he was completely killed and then everybody judged his first touches and these kind of things.
"It's just a joke but we have to live with that, he will deal with it brilliantly. We are patient and we know he can do good stuff."
Werner received similar treatment with miss montages and poor touches scrutinised. Chelsea have been the kings of poor performing big money signings and Nunez would do well to rival any of the players listed before for worst signing, but moving to a new country and league as a young player is tough and Chelsea fans, having watched Werner, won't be feeling much sympathy for Liverpool's £67million striker.
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