Chelsea and Mourinho master art of transfer window once again

In doing this, they were able to create a sufficient enough margin to make the type of bid for Cuadrado that significantly played on Fiorentina’s greed for cash; a basic human instinct, while also including Salah in the package to go on loan until the end of the season. A great deal for all involved.

Although Salah has failed to make the kind of impact that was expected at Stamford Bridge after being signed for £11m, the only thing on the mind of Roman Abramovich’s inner-circle at the club will be making a profit on the player when they do come to sell him.

Following the same procedure they used with Lukaku and De Bruyne, by sending Salah out on loan somewhere that he will get first team football, there will be the hope that he flourishes, so that the Blues once again can make substantial profit on a player they bought for £11m. If they do indeed sell him to Fiorentina, his sale to them will go some way to recouping the cash that the west London club paid for Cuadrado; which in fact could be more suitably classed as surplus dividend in business terminology.

This transition over the last decade that Abramovich and his chief executives have mapped out, going from a billionaire’s hobby, to a sustainable business has been nothing less than a masterstroke. Their biggest key to the profit they have made thus far is, as eluded to, loaning players out that they know will perform, therefore driving their value, and capitalising on clubs’ need for those players, in order to make a profit. Simple, in the grand scheme of things, and other Premier League clubs can certainly learn from this.

Cuadrado is also eligible to play in the Champions League, as Chelsea push ahead to win what would be a dream double of the Premier League title and Europe’s elite club competition for the second time in three years; that is just the latter of course. They are also in the Capital One Cup final, as Mourinho looks to secure his first trophy of his second reign as Chelsea boss.

The Blues have Willian, who plays on the right, and although Mourinho likes his work rate, the Brazilian hasn’t chipped in with enough goals while his creation ratio is low. Cuadrado is expected to be an upgrade in his position, after finishing joint-top of the assist charts at the World Cup.

No doubt Chelsea will continue to spend as long as they can make substantial profit, and with a number of players still out on loan, their expendable assets now, far outweigh the need for operational expenditure.