Chelsea has only been linked to a handful of players this transfer window. That hints at a lack of a plan B or a lack in desire to find new players.
The exact same transfer rumors have followed Chelsea the entire window (or at least since Maurizio Sarri seemed a realistic possibility). The Blues have been linked repeatedly to Gonzalo Higuain and Daniele Rugani. Outside of those two, there has been little smoke.
There was, of course, plenty around Aleksandr Golovin and Alisson. But for all the smoke, both players went elsewhere. Generally, that means the club would bring up a new target. But few if any have been consistently linked to the Blues.
The implication is that the Blues only ever had one target for that role. And when the targeted disappeared, Chelsea had no plan B to revert to. That in of itself has its own implications.
The first thing it could mean is that Sarri merely asked for his former players and nothing else. As the Higuain and Rugani deals have dragged on, the Blues have had no backup plan. Alternatively, the backup plan could be the current squad if Sarri could not get his reunion. Chelsea has all the pieces in depth, just not the quality. Higuain and Rugani, though not upgrades on any one in particular, would at least be familiar with his style. That alone is a short term upgrade.
The second implication is that Chelsea wants to force Sarri to use the youth. The academy was and is one of the best in the world. But the Blues have no one to show for it. Sarri has given many players opportunities (mostly because he had no other choice) and could be tasked with filling the gaps with the kids.
Perhaps the most interesting implication is the one tied to transfers out. Thibaut Courtois and Willian are both strongly linked to moves away. But Chelsea has had no strong keeper rumor since Alisson went to Liverpool. And though the Anthony Martial link remains strong, it is seemingly unlikely that Manchester United would agree to the swap. So if the Blues have no targets to replace the two, they could be fully prepared to hold on to both players.
The worst case scenario implication is the board simply has no idea what it is doing. The technical director chair has remained vacant for almost a year and there is no sign of that changing any time soon. Without someone considering the football side of the club, the board relies on suggestions by Sarri and “good business decisions”.
Unfortunately, that is probably the most likely reason Chelsea has only been linked to a few players all window. The board does not know who to turn to with Alisson and Golovin off the table. They have been working hard at Higuain and Rugani, but they have no clue where to go if either of those deals fail.
The window is rapidly running short on time. Chelsea has had a history of doing things at the last minute in recent windows, often with targets out of nowhere. That could be the case once again. But it does not necessarily speak well of the club if they are scrambling at every turn because they (once again) failed to plan for setbacks.