When all is said and done, Chelsea will reflect on 2023-24 as a(nother) lost season. Although the Blues should doubtless sit higher than 12th in the Premier League table, even with the diminished tools head coach Mauricio Pochettino has had at his disposal, no fewer than 49 separate injuries have put paid to any semblance of a top-four challenge.
It has been a season-defining crisis, and even as we enter the final weeks of the campaign there is no end in sight, with the club rocked by the news that Romeo Lavia will play no further part having seen just 32 minutes of action, while there is still no timeline for the respective returns of Reece James and Christopher Nkunku - players who would have made a genuine difference to Chelsea's fortunes.
The Blues' injury woes have made them the butt of the joke, and their status as a laughing stock is set to be compounded by another mid-table finish. Something has to change, and fast.
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