Chelsea's stranglehold over English women's football has never felt stronger: Naomi Girma and Keira Walsh signings set up the Blues for further WSL domination

There was some speculation about Chelsea having a transitional season this term, given all the change taking place in west London. As well as Hayes' departure, stalwarts like Fran Kirby, Maren Mjelde, Jess Carter, Ann-Katrin Berger and Melanie Leupolz all moved on, meaning a lot of winning experience and players with strong personalities and mentalities vacated the dressing room.

But what Hayes built was built to last. It was built over a long period, and the time and effort put into that was never going to fall apart in the space of one summer. Perhaps there might be a small adjustment period, especially with Bompastor having a new environment to adapt to, like many of her signings. Perhaps there would be a chance for the rest of the WSL's 'big four' to have a real go at them in the title race. But Chelsea were always going to be up there still - that was the minimum expectation.

The ease at which Bompastor is moving closer towards what would be her first WSL triumph, then, is extremely impressive. She's taken the challenge of battling on four fronts in her stride, rotating well to balance things out and maintain a remarkable unbeaten streak that now stands at 21 games and spans the entire season to date.

Chelsea have had some really eye-catching displays in that time, but they've also done that admirable thing of winning (or not losing) when not playing particularly well. That's the mark of a champion that was evident throughout Hayes' reign and has continued under Bompastor, who knows all about winning from her all-conquering days at Lyon.

So far, it has put them seven points clear at the top of the WSL table, into the Champions League quarter-finals, the FA Cup fifth round and preparing for a League Cup semi-final, in which they face West Ham on Wednesday.

That's all good for the now - and there's a lot about it that is good for the future, too. After all, Walsh has just signed a four-and-a-half-year contract, aged 27. She's already one of the best midfielders in the world, and now her prime years are going to come in a Chelsea shirt. In Girma, they've secured the services of one of the best centre-backs in the world, too, for the same length of time. She's still only 24 years old and is guaranteed to get better.

Chelsea were always good at forward-planning, at signing players in their early twenties who could become stalwarts in the XI for years to come. Hayes did it with many rising stars in the English game, such as Millie Bright and Kirby, while also identifying foreign talents like Guro Reiten and Ji So-yun to do similar.

Now, as Bright prepares to celebrate her 32nd birthday this summer, it looks like Chelsea have that forward-planning nailed down in an extremely important position and for an extremely important player, who is by no means done yet. This was a key strength under Hayes and looks set to continue under Bompastor.

Underneath all of that star power, alongside the Walshs and the Girmas, and the likes of Sam Kerr and Lauren James, there is also a pipeline of young prospects. Hayes' final few years at Chelsea saw a significant shift towards recruiting teenage talents who could develop into stars in due course. In her last season in charge, one of those, Maika Hamano, came up with some huge contributions to help deliver a fifth-successive WSL title. This year, Wieke Kaptein, signed by Hayes, has been an important figure under Bompastor.

There are plenty more looking to follow in their footsteps, such as PSV defender Veerle Buurman, who recently scored on her senior Netherlands debut, and Bompastor, as the former manager of Lyon's academy, is well-placed to continue the work of the last few years.

Chelsea are making marquee signings for huge fees like no other English club, they're recruiting the best teenage talent the globe has to offer in a way that no other domestic rival is, and they're already the dominant force in the country. What is going to stop them from continuing to hold that position?

Arsenal certainly have a productive academy set-up and they had themselves a strong January window, while similar can be said of Man City. But it feels like both have to be more aggressive in strengthening their squads with elite talent if they are to compete with the depth of quality Chelsea have. Both are good enough to challenge the Blues on their day and that will always make cup success a chance, but to snatch a league title from them? There's a real gap to close there and big strides will need to be taken to do so.

There might not be other teams in England doing what Chelsea are, but there are two in Europe - those Lyon and Barcelona, the two teams that have had a stranglehold on the Champions League trophy in the last decade.

Lyon have long been able to attract the best talent in the women's game, thanks to their early, serious and continued commitments to the sport. It has resulted in eight European triumphs, including a remarkable five in a row from 2016 to 2020. Barcelona, meanwhile, have emerged as a real force in the last five years, winning three of the last four finals. Boasting a remarkable academy set-up, able to attract the best talent in Spain and having become increasingly appealing to global talent, both have a formula similar to Chelsea, with the difference being that they have executed it well enough to reign supreme again and again on the continent, not just domestically.

That's the next step for the Blues. They are craving that Champions League title, and by recruiting the likes of Bompastor, Lucy Bronze and Walsh, they are adding people with experience of getting over the line. But that obsession with conquering Europe is not distracting Chelsea in the WSL either. Their position as the dominant force in England has never felt more secure and, unless something drastic happens, could only grow stronger in the years to come.