Chelsea's level of overspending has reached new heights since the arrival of Todd Boehly and the American businessman has attempted to buy his way to the top of England and Europe's top table.
With a staggering £1bn spent across three transfer windows and a world-class manager appointed in Mauricio Pochettino, Boehly set out clear expectations of challenging the league's elite.
Yet, the Blues still haven't progressed from their 12th-place finish last season and are currently 11 points behind the Champions League places, sparking serious concerns about the club's transfer policy.
While throwing around eye-watering sums of money on underperforming talent has become the norm at Stamford Bridge, there was once a time when Chelsea's scouting was measured and their recruitment was astute, landing themselves some top talent across Europe for relatively low transfer fees.
Jose Mourinho set the bar high during his first season at the club in 2004, striking gold when he prised Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba to the club for a combined transfer fee of £51m.
This was extortionate money to spend on three players at the time, but unlike Chelsea's current crop of players, that trio were instrumental in their trophy-laden period in the mid-2000s as the Blues battled it out with Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson for the Premier League title.
It wouldn't be the only time that the west London giants would strike gold in the transfer window, most notably through the signing of Eden Hazard from Lille in 2012.
The price Chelsea paid for Eden Hazard
In July 2012, Chelsea captured Hazard for £32m from Lille and although they wouldn't know it at the time, the Belgian would go on to become one of the greatest signings in the club's history.
The 21-year-old was drawn to the project at the Blues and was even more attracted to the proposition of playing for the club after their Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich just months prior.
Upon his arrival, he said: "When they won the Champions League I told myself, 'Why not Chelsea?'". There was a struggle between Chelsea and [Manchester] United but, for me, Chelsea has the best project. It's a wonderful club."
Nowadays, spending £32m on a wide player with obscene potential would be seen as a vast underpayment, but over a decade ago this was seen as a ludicrous sum of money to spend on a youngster.
Yet, when revisiting the calibre of player Chelsea had signed in Hazard, it all made more sense.
Why Eden Hazard was worth that much
In 194 appearances at Lille, Hazard directly contributed to a remarkable 103 goals, scoring 50 and supplying 53 assists, in what was a sensational five-year stint in France.
Prior to his move to Stamford Bridge, the fleet-footed winger was one of the hottest commodities on the planet, reinforced by the impact he made for his club.
He played a major role in Lille securing the league and cup in the 2010/11 season with 18 direct goal contributions, but it was the devastating form he showed in the following campaign that ultimately earned him his big move, producing an eye-watering 20 goals and 18 assists in Ligue 1.
As proven by the aforementioned statistics, Hazard was more than just a winger who could serve up the trickery and searing pace, he was capable of producing a sensational end product to match and there was a feeling at the time that he could paper of the cracks of Chelsea's misfiring forward line.
Eden Hazard's Chelsea career in numbers
The evidence was there instantly that Roberto Di Matteo made the correct call on signing Hazard, with the brilliant Belgian supplying six assists and one goal in his opening three Premier League fixtures, as Chelsea romped to victories against Wigan Athletic, Reading and Newcastle United.
A thorn in the side of defences with his blistering pace and exceptional close control in tight areas, the beginning of his career at Chelsea was a sign of things to come.
In the 2012/13 campaign, he was instrumental in the Blues Europa League winning campaign and was irreplaceable in the final third as he scored 13 and assisted 24 times in 62 appearances across all competitions.
Very quickly, the £32m magician became an unstoppable force down the left flank for Chelsea, as in his second campaign at the club, he served up 23 goal contributions in 35 top-flight appearances, followed by a sensational 14 goals and ten assists in the 2014/15 campaign, which saw him win his first Premier League and was crowned the PFA Player of the Year.
While he would suffer an alarming drop off in form in 2015/16 with only six goals and eight assists accrued across all competitions, Hazard proved that form is temporary, and class is permanent, bouncing back from the lowest point of his Blues career to deliver a 16-goal haul to scoop his second league title in 2017.
Lauded by Jurgen Klopp as "special" for his brilliant solo goal in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool in 2018, the 126-cap Belgian was magnetised towards producing quality in big game moments and will be remembered at Chelsea for the sublime memories he created for supporters.
Two of his biggest was *that* goal against Tottenham to stop them from winning the league in 2016 and his wonderful solo effort in a victory over Arsenal in 2017.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Premier League players of all time, Hazard accentuated that mantra when he posted an eye-watering 16 goals and 15 assists in his seventh and final season at Stamford Bridge in 2018/19 as he bid a sad farewell to the club that year.
The fee Chelsea sold Eden Hazard for
When Real Madrid came calling in 2019, Roman Abramovich had no choice but to let Hazard depart for pastures new, letting him go for a club record sale of £88.5m, rising to £142m if add-ons were met.
The Chelsea "legend" – as dubbed by the club's official website – was at the peak of his powers when he departed Stamford Bridge to become a galactico, but his time in the Spanish capital would soon unravel into a nightmare.
The reason for his rapid downfall was, unfortunately down to his own making, failing to look after himself and drawing the ire of Madrid fans for a questionable commitment to the shirt.
But he was immensely unlucky with a recurring ankle injury, which limited the trickery and explosiveness of his early days.
Hazard had the opportunity to become one of Real's all-time greats, but after recording just 19 goal contributions in 76 appearances at the Bernabeu, a legendary career came to a premature end as Hazard announced his retirement from football this year at the age of 32.
While it was incredibly sad to see such a talented player cut his career short, he will go down in history as one of the Chelsea greats.
