This will be the third successive summer transfer window since the 2022 takeover by co-controlling owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly when Chelsea have outspent rivals, signed the most players and looked to offload those from the former regime.
A flurry of Friday transfer activity, including a £54m deal to sign Wolves forward Neto, means Chelsea look set to make 12 summer signings with an average age of under 21, spending £243m since June 14 and bulking up their squad to more than 50 senior players.
Some of those who have joined will go straight back out on loan and more will be sold before the 30 August transfer window deadline.
But many fans are wondering if this is one of the biggest Premier League squads ever assembled.
Since the Clearlake Capital and Boehly takeover, Chelsea have spent more than £1.5bn on transfers, increasingly with a younger profile aimed at future re-sale value, apparently stockpiling potential.
Chelsea had such a bloated squad of more than 40 players under Graham Potter that reports emerged of first-team squad members sitting on the floor during team meetings and changing for training in the corridor.
This summer they will do fewer transfers both in and out than last summer under Mauricio Pochettino – but it remains more than any other club in the Premier League.
At least 14 players will leave Chelsea’s group of the 56 listed above, which includes any player who has made his first-team debut for the Blues or his national team.
From the outside, there will be questions about why Chelsea sign so many players and why such young ones? The club insist it does not have a minimum age or wage to acquire players and judges each deal on an individual basis.
They believe they can bridge the gap on the top four with the current squad and begin pushing for major titles in the coming seasons.
But there is also an acceptance that this transfer window will only be a success if Chelsea can balance the books further by adding to the £90m for the three players sold so far, not including the Conor Gallagher deal that is likely to be confirmed in the coming days.
Meanwhile, rivals will also ask how Chelsea can keep spending amid such restrictive Premier League profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Again, the Blues will point to player sales but have also effectively needed to sell two hotels – the Millennium and the Copthorne – to themselves for £77m, which is believed to have allowed them to remain compliant with PSR.
