Chelsea have been undoubtedly the most aggressive English Premier League team in the transfer market this season, and apart from Paris St Germain, the most busy side in the whole of Europe.
But unlike other transfer windows, where Roman Abramovich has thrown money around for established stars, this year has seen the Blues go a different route.
Ever since taking over Chelsea, Abramovich has secretly had one great desire, apart from a Champions League triumph, and that is to see his team play attractive football. Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were incredibly formidable. The astute technician that he is, Mourinho built his side around teamwork and organization.
While that tactic brought great success, it did not include playing attractive football. Ever since Mourinho's departure, all managers have struggled to bring the attractive game into the team, in fear of losing matches and losing their jobs due to the lack of results.
The likes of Luis Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti were not deemed good enough - rather harshly for Ancelotti, who won a double for the Blues. Guus Hiddink did remarkably well in a temporary position, but was not ready to commit and leave his job with Russia.
In came Andre Villas-Boas, the newly crowned heir to Mourinho, only with a better playing style. He was fresh from an unbeaten season at Porto, where the 34-year-old guided the team to three major trophies. So everything looked primed to turn Chelsea into a Barcelona-like team, much revered and equally successful.
However, how much ever one might argue otherwise, what Villas-Boas ran into at Stamford Bridge was the heights of player power, and the inability of the current squad to adhere to the manager's preferred style. Villas-Boas is a fan of the high-pressing game, with the defenders holding a high-line. He did not consider Frank Lampard suitable for his midfield role, either as the advanced playmaker or as the deep-lying one. John Terry struggled to cope with the high-line, being found out on several occasions, none more so than the 5-3 defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
So, one thing was clear - either Villas-Boas had to go or the players had to. With the results, far from what was expected, Abramovich had no real option but to sack the Portuguese, who many consider to be one of the best young managers in Europe, and shelve his plans for an eye-pleasing side, for the time being.
Then came the turning point. Nobody, not even Roberto Di Matteo, would have expected to achieve the success the club did over the final few months of the season. Down and out in the Premier League; a massive deficit to overcome in the Champions League and the lottery that is the FA Cup, although no side has been more successful over the past few years in the game's oldest cup competition.
That epic Champions League triumph, against all humanly possible odds, turned it around for Abramovich, allowing him to go back to his "project" sooner than expected. He sniffed around for Pep Guardiola, but after realizing the Spaniard was keeping to his word of taking a sabbatical, he decided to go with the players' choice - Di Matteo.
Eden Hazard, one of the most coveted players in Europe, followed, with the transfer of Marko Marin, a highly-talented German footballer, already agreed. Fernando Torres is already there, albeit a sulking one in blue, taking to the club's colours a little more literally than the fans would have liked. But, to be fair, nobody was really going to take over from Didier Drogba, as long as the inspirational Ivorian was still at the club.
That is not the case anymore. This is now Torres' - the £50 million man - club, if he wants it. All the pieces that are being wonderfully put together are for his benefit. The prospect of an interchangeable three behind Torres is a mouth-watering prospect indeed.
Oscar, who notched up two assists already in Brazil's 3-2 win over Egypt, will most probably play alongside Juan Mata and Eden Hazard, with Marin thrown in when injuries or suspensions arise.
Mata, Chelsea's player of the year last season, Hazard and Oscar are a little too alike for everybody's liking. But one only needs to look at Spain and Barcelona to understand, that really does not matter in the modern game anymore. It is all about keeping possession, and learning to find the gaps and holes that will eventually arise in every single match.
The trio playing behind, interchanging to the middle, left and right at will, is a nightmare scenario for the Premier League's defenders. Chelsea, who are still looking to bring in the likes of Hulk and Willian, now have the team to play the attractive brand, it just remains to be seen whether Di Matteo, who was a part of the Chelsea team that had one of the Premier League's most endearing and technically brilliant players in Gianfranco Zola, embraces it to the fullest, or goes back to the tried and tested formula, that won them the Champions League, if things start to go a little awry.
You do not turn into one of the best footballing sides in the world overnight, regardless of the kind of players available; patience is the key. How much of that patience is available at Stamford Bridge, will be seen as the season unfolds.
