Chelsea's dizzying transfer window took another twist this week as, out of pretty much nowhere, the Blues swiftly wrapped up a deal for Wolves' Pedro Neto, paying their Premier League rivals a cool £54 million ($69m) for the winger despite his injury troubles. The 24-year-old became the west Londoners' most expensive new arrival of a bewildering summer of business to date and, remarkably, already the 35th player signed in just over two years under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership.
And they might not be done yet. The same day that Neto's switch was announced, it emerged amid a muddle of transfer rumours that his new club were in talks over bringing his compatriot and former loanee Joao Felix back from Atletico Madrid. That, in turn, would enable the Spanish side to finally complete the separate signing of Chelsea's Conor Gallagher, after striker Samu Omorodion's proposed move in the opposite direction collapsed.
That means the Blues could be poised to spend more than a combined £100m ($128m) on the two Portugal internationals, who are far from reliable, in what has the potential to be yet another grave transfer misstep for the club's hierarchy and another damning indictment of their decision-making.