Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso demanded a culture reset at Chelsea this summer(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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Full transparency: the majority of this was written just before 11pm on transfer deadline day. It was almost done. It was a case of dotting the i's and crossing the t's.
Ironically, so was Chelsea's move for Lamine Camara. Until it suddenly was not.
At 11:03pm, a message comes through. "Chelsea's proposed £47million deal to sign Lamine Camara from AS Monaco has fallen through," it read, in not those exact words.
Instead, a source inside Chelsea had expressed their frustration that Monaco had pulled the plug on a deal that was already fully agreed. In writing, as well. Remarkable, but such are the wicked ways of football and the transfer window.
The drafted article included lines like: "In the end. That is all it should be about in a transfer window. How your club does in the end is all that really matters." That much is still true.
Following those lines were more words, this time about how Chelsea's deadline day had been a successful one on paper. Enzo Fernandez, a player desperate to leave and a person the majority of supporters had seemingly fallen out of love with, moved to Manchester City in the final hours of the window for a club-record sale of £125m. It was also a joint-British transfer record.
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There threatened to be a serious mood turn, though, when Stamford Bridge insiders informed football.london that there was no guarantee Chelsea would bring in any reinforcements before the 11pm deadline. That was despite talks with Monaco earlier in the day regarding Camara. Chelsea saw two offers rebuffed by the Ligue 1 club for the Senegal international.
Monaco needed money but thought they were getting it through Folarin Balogun's proposed move to Everton. There were, however, complications when the American striker was conducting the required medical tests in the final stages of his move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Toffees then turned their attention, very briefly, to Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee. Monaco, in turn, panicked and lowered their asking price for Camara. In swooped Chelsea and then followed the smoothest transfer negotiations in recent memory.
Chelsea agreed a £47m deal with Monaco to sign Camara, who was set to pen a six-year contract, with the option of a further 12 months, at Stamford Bridge.
Lamine Camara
Chelsea saw a deadline day move for Lamine Camara collapse right at the death of the summer transfer window(Image: Sebastian Frej)
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Not long after, though, news started to circulate online that Balogun to Everton was back on. Man United told the Toffees that Zirkzee was not available and the Merseysiders reverted back to Balogun. That set off a few alarm bells in Chelsea supporters' heads.
Their worst fears came true shortly after 11pm. With Monaco set to receive a healthy wad of cash from Everton, they no longer required the money from Chelsea. Despite a full written agreement between the two clubs, sources say, Monaco performed a remarkable U-turn.
A fittingly chaotic conclusion to a hectic window. A window that has left a sour taste in Chelsea mouths because of its final moments.
Xabi Alonso has been left with six central midfield options. That, on the surface and with no European football to contend with, doesn't appear too bad at first but context is required. Romeo Lavia and Reece James, for no fault of their own, have proven to be unreliable in terms of their fitness levels.
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso during Chelsea's win over Brighton(Image: Mike Hewitt)
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James, a natural defender but a more-than-able midfield option, Lavia, Valentin Barco, Moises Caicedo, Jordan Henderson and Malo Gusto, a conventional right-back but who played in midfield on Sunday afternoon, are Alonso's candidates for the engine room. Typically, Alonso plays with a double pivot.
Caicedo is the star of the midfield but even he suffered an injury, one we await to hear news on regarding its severity, on Sunday. Barco has just started his debut season in England. Henderson is a good option but one you wouldn't expect to start too much at 36 years old. Gusto and James are natural defenders. Lavia is impressive - and has made a strong start to the season - but there are doubts from supporters given his injury-riddled past.
Camara seemed the perfect profile to come in and provide a starting-level option for Alonso and that is why supporters are so devastated the move never materialised. In a quite frankly ridiculous transfer saga - because that is what it turned into by the end of play - there was even the threat of one more twist after the twist of all twists.
Balogun's deal, would you believe it, to sign for Everton collapsed at around 20-past midnight on Wednesday morning. Could Chelsea? That's what supporters were asking.
football.london put the question to a source inside the club. Unfortunately for those Blues fans, desperate for one more curveball, said source confirmed Monaco refused to sign a deal sheet meaning Chelsea's deal to bring Camara to the club could not be resurrected.
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Let's shelve the midfield stuff for one moment because it is crucial to look at what Chelsea did right in the summer transfer window. And there was plenty of it.
For starters, more than £460m was generated in player sales - including add-ons - and loan fees. To put that into perspective: Chelsea made a record amount in one window, surpassing Paris Saint-Germain's £340m this summer.
A lot of is was deadwood, too. Liam Delap, who scored just two goals for Chelsea in his one season at Stamford Bridge, was sold for a £50m package. Nicolas Jackson was shipped for £65m to Aston Villa. Chelsea could get £42.5m for Alejandro Garnacho if the obligation, that includes what sources describe as very achievable conditions, included in his Aston Villa loan deal is triggered.
In terms of incomings, more than £280m has been spent on players who will help improve the first team. That sounds like a given, but that has not always been the case in BlueCo's tenure. football.london received an interesting message from a source on deadline day saying the focus is on quality over quantity - that certainly has not always been the motto in Clearlake's time at Stamford Bridge.
Morgan Rogers arrived for a club-record £117m and has hit the ground running, Maxence Lacroix for £52m and the same can be said about him. While it is early days for Emiliano Martinez, signed for a modest £7.5m just last week, Chelsea supporters have seen their cries for an experienced, top-class No.1 goalkeeper listened to.
Emiliano Martinez
Emiliano Martinez has signed for Chelsea(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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BlueCo have to take some credit, of course, but this is seen as Alonso's transfer window by a lot of supporters. BlueCo can take the credit for appointing the Spaniard, who is the club's most important signing this summer, who has left his mark on the Chelsea squad. And then some.
This is the very start, the outset, of Alonso's reign but already the feel-good factor, that has so long been missing, has returned to Stamford Bridge. The summer transfer window, regardless of an unsuccessful last push, has more than played its part in that.
In the end of the transfer window, are Chelsea the winners? They might just be, you know. Time will tell but there certainly aren't many who have strengthened their squad to this extent.
football.london was told during Liam Rosenior's brief spell at Chelsea that the summer would be different to other summers under BlueCo. Stamford Bridge insiders, at the time, were reluctant to go into too much more detail than that; and we will never really know for sure whether plans changed too much after Rosenior was sacked.
Rosenior was relieved of his duties as Chelsea head coach after less than four months in charge and the club released a statement saying the board were undertaking a "period of self-reflection". The Chelsea bigwigs had a series of events they needed to get absolutely right and the pressure from the supporters, who held multiple protests to voice and express their discontent with how the club was run, was immense.
Liam Rosenior is no longer Chelsea head coach
Liam Rosenior lasted less than four months as Chelsea head coach(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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Let's not kid anyone: it still is. But to the board's credit, they have got most things spot on - again, only time will tell for certain - ever since the self-reflection.
Step one: go and get the right head coach. Or so we thought. Instead, Chelsea appointed Alonso as their manager. Such a title was to reflect a change in guard; Alonso was being given more power than his predecessors.
Step two: a change in the club's recruitment strategy, driven by Alonso. The 44-year-old told reporters during Chelsea's pre-season tour of Sydney that he could "see the positives and concerns" about the west London club's model from the outside and he addressed the sporting directors with his opinion. Fortunately for everyone involved, there was an alignment from day one.
Some experienced heads were needed. Chelsea's squad lacked that last season and that much was evident on the pitch, especially in their capitulation towards the back end of the campaign.
In came Danny Welbeck, the 35-year-old striker, from Brighton for an undisclosed fee, though sources say it was a minimal amount paid for the former Arsenal forward. Soon followed Henderson, the 36-year-old midfielder who left Brentford after he struck a gentleman's agreement with his former employers.
Danny Welbeck celebrates
Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring his first goal for Chelsea(Image: Richard Heathcote)
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Two standard-setters, as sources inside the club have since told football.london, at the Blues' Cobham base but both with plenty to offer on the pitch as well.
Chelsea also brought in 28-year-old Pep Chavarria, 26-year-old Lacroix, 24-year-old Rogers and most recently 33-year-old goalkeeper Martinez. The club wanted a complete culture reset this summer and they have done their very best to achieve just that.
So far, it is paying off. As mentioned, it is very much early days.
The good days look to be coming back.
Overall, then; an enormously progressive summer but one soured by a turbulent deadline day that left Chelsea officials feeling aggrieved.
Quite the day for Balogun, who had three fan bases waiting on his every move and pulled on their heartstrings in the final moments of an unforgettable transfer window.