Despite having vast sums to spend on players - Chelsea's flawed transfer policy has seen two of the best players in the Premier League star for rival teams - having first played for the Londoners before moving on.
Both Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah endured difficult, short-lived spells for The Blues and were transferred out of the club when they didn't shine immediately.
When Roman Abramovich bought the club from Ken Bates in July 2003, no one could have foreseen the impact the Russian would have on the Premier League.
In his first season as owner, he pumped over £120 million into the club on new players and in his first ten years, he had invested upwards of £640 million on transfers and over £1.4 billion on players' wages.
Managers from José Mourinho to Avram Grant, Luiz Scolari and Carlo Ancellotti have all served under his reign and were replaced once results began to slide. The same short term attitude is being shown to players and is coming back to haunt the club.
Liverpool's Mo Salah. Picture by: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/PA Images
Mo Salah was signed in January 2014 for a fee in the region of £11 million from FC Basel. He would only play a bit-part role in the side - scoring two goals in 13 appearances. He was loaned to Fiorentina a year later, and Roma afterwards.
Since signing for Liverpool at the start of the 2017 season, the Egyptian has been on fire - scoring 17 goals in 21 games for the Merseyside club.
De Bruyne had a similar experience in London. Signed from Genk in January 2012, the talented midfielder was shipped out to Werder Bremen eight months later.
The Belgian returned to Chelsea in July 2013 - only to be sold to Bremen the following January. Jose Mourinho sanctioned the departures of both.
Romelu Lukaku is arguably another who wasn't given the appropriate time to develop at Stamford Bridge having been loaned out twice after signing for Chelsea. The striker went on to have a prolific spell at Everton before signing for Manchester United.
Chelsea won the Premier League last season but are way off the pace this season. Eden Hazard isn't firing on all cylinders and with Barcelona up next in the Champions League - how Conte would love to call on either De Bruyne or Salah when he should be able to select both.
It's all well and good having all the money in the world but if you don't know what you're buying - it can be a bit pointless.
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