Tony Bloom - Brighton's chairman - has previously indicated that he sees Chelsea as his 'favourite customers', referring to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital having shelled close to £200m for head coach Graham Potter and two players in Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea supporters were joyously singing that they “had their Chelsea back”. Those were the glory days of December, when a title charge looked like a genuine possibility for a squad stacked with quality options in almost every position.