IT’S not guaranteed that everyone within the Chelsea dressing room knows the name of everyone else at this moment in time. The squad turnover at Stamford Bridge has been almost without precedent since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club last summer with a new manager and coaching staff also installed following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel last year.

Graham Potter has learned the names of every player in his squad, but he doesn’t seem to know what his best team is. Indeed, the 47-year-old has chopped and changed multiple times since taking over at Stamford Bridge in September, and sometimes even within the same match – Potter changed shape three times in the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Chelsea’s solution to their recent troubles has been to enter the transfer market once more. The signing of Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk means the Blues have spent roughly £500m on players in just one-and-a-half transfer windows with more new arrivals expected before the end of January.

This isn’t helping Potter, though. Chelsea might have bought a collection of high-quality individuals, but there is no coherent strategy underpinning their business. These new signings raise expectations for Potter to build a winning team without any framework that will allow him to do this.

What’s more, Chelsea have strengthened every area of their squad apart from the department that is holding them back most – the midfield. At Brighton, Potter relied on the two-way quality of midfielders such as Moises Caicedo, Yves Bissouma and Alexis Mac Allister. Their versatility and speed was key to the Seagulls’ identity as a team.

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Yet Potter is lacking the personnel required to replicate this as Chelsea manager. Without the right midfield engine, the Blues are struggling to move forward. If anything, they are rolling back down the hill as Potter searches for a gear, any gear. Chelsea should have prioritised the signing of at least one new midfielder over anything else, but have signed three attackers (Joao Felix, David Datro Fofana and Mudryk) one defender (Benoit Badiashille) and one development prospect (Andrey Santos).

Enzo Fernandez was believed to be a target before Benfica refused to budge in their €120m valuation of the Argentine World Cup winner. Jude Bellingham has also been linked with Chelsea, but Liverpool and Real Madrid are reportedly leading the pursuit of the England midfielder. Beyond this, there isn’t much talk of Chelsea signing someone to bulk up their central unit.

“I think we’ve got to be, not necessarily careful, but I think you’ve just got to understand that we’ve got about 10 or 11 players unavailable,” said Potter when asked about the number of players being signed by Chelsea under the club’s new ownership. “So, obviously, you can’t just sign players to replace those because in the end, you have a squad of 30 and that’s the problem.

“You have to do the right thing and look at what the right solutions are. Sometimes they’re not lined completely as you’d like them because the window is complicated in January. My job, I think, is trying to support the club, make the right decisions. And then to help the team improve.”

Potter is right to reference the number of injuries suffered by Chelsea players this season with N’Golo Kante, Raheem Sterling, Reece James, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria, Armando Broja and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all currently sidelined. The Blues boss surely feels some relief at merely getting some bodies in through the door.

But Chelsea’s medium to long-term future won’t necessarily be brighter for the strategy of throwing so much at the wall in the hope that something sticks. Boehly and the decision-makers at Stamford Bridge must narrow their scope to give Potter a chance of building a team that stands for something. Signings will help, but only if they are the right ones.