In stark contrast to the 2022 January transfer window, in which Chelsea spent around £323m on signings, the Blues didn't spend a single penny on new players last month.
In fact, the club's only business in the window focused on sending players out on loan, including Albanian striker Armando Broja.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano broke the news of the 22-year-old forward's move to Fulham yesterday evening.
It is an interesting decision to send the slough-born striker out on loan for the rest of the season, as, on the one hand, it leaves Mauricio Pochettino's first-team squad a little thin in attack, but on the other hand, regular game time can only be a good thing for Broja, and importantly for Chelsea, his value.
Armando Broja's numbers this season
Broja has long been viewed as one of the next great talents set to come out of Stamford Bridge, with talent scout Jacek Kulig describing him as a "clinical finisher" and a "complete forward" about two years ago.
Unfortunately, though, the Chelsea prospect hasn't been able to kick on from his moderately impressive loan spells with Vitesse and Southampton, where he scored ten league goals in 21 starts and six league goals in 21 starts, respectively.
For example, this season, he's made 19 appearances for the Pensioners across all competitions but has only scored two goals and provided two assists, giving him a goal involvement every 4.75 games on average, which for a 22-year-old player aiming to be the leading number nine for a top six side, isn't good enough.
Premier League
13
1
1
FA Cup
2
1
o
League Cup
4
0
1
That said, now he's unavailable for the rest of the season, some fans might be puzzled as to why a replacement wasn't found, but with 18-year-old Deivid Washington waiting in the wings, Pochettino doesn't need an outside replacement.
Why Deivid Washington should be given a chance
Luckily for Washington, he won't be heading into the Chelsea team with much expectation on his shoulders. After all, with Nicolas Jackson in the team, Cole Palmer lighting it up, and Christopher Nkunku getting better every game, he wasn't going to become the first choice, regardless of what happened to Broja.
That said, given enough time, there is no reason why he couldn't become just that.
Before he joined the Blues last summer, the earlier-mentioned Kulig described the young Brazilian as a "highly talented" player and "one of the most interesting teenage strikers in South America", which, while undeniably high praise, was not unfounded.
In his home country, he made 13 appearances for Santos' U20 side, scoring six goals before he was given a chance to play for the senior side.
Santos
16
2
Santos U20
13
6
Chelsea
2
0
Chelsea U21
2
1
In the 16 games he played for Santos he scored two goals, and while that might sound underwhelming, he made his first appearance for the famous side at just 17 years old, and didn't always play a full 90 minutes.
Since making it to London, he has already made two senior appearances for the club and settled into the youth set-up with no problem, scoring some brilliant goals along the way.
Ultimately, with Broja out of the picture, Pochettino needs another striker to cover for Jackson and the other attackers throughout the season, and while he is undoubtedly still raw, there is a genuine talent in Washington, and he should be given more regular minutes to prove it.
Who knows, Chelsea could already have their next great number nine, and it didn't cost them an arm and a leg to get him.