Mohamed Salah was controversially sold by Chelsea to AS Roma five years ago, with Jose Mourinho struggling to present him with enough minutes to develop at Stamford Bridge.
He's since evolved into a world-class performer at Liverpool, scoring at least 19 Premier League goals in each of his four seasons on Merseyside; the Egyptian is recognised as one of the best around, but he's recently been linked with a relatively surprising move back to London.
Salah will enter the final two years of his contract at Anfield this summer, with the Reds yet to offer him a new deal and as a result of the situation, links are beginning to emerge with top European clubs.
However, despite his remarkable level of performance, it is reasonable to suggest that a move for the Liverpool talisman would be ill-advised from a Blues perspective, largely because they simply do not need his services and money would be better invested elsewhere.
Thomas Tuchel has a wealth of attacking players at his disposal; Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham are typically vying for just three starting spots.
Salah has subtle differences attached to his game to some of those players, but Chelsea have most areas covered by their forwards; the Egyptian international is left-footed, but Ziyech shares that trait, and he's quick across the ground, but Werner matches him for speed.
In addition to the squad Tuchel already has, Salah is now aged 28 and it remains to be seen as to whether he'll be able to continue delivering such impressive numbers in the years to come.
He's bagged 14 non-penalty goals in England's top-flight this season which is at least six more than any of his teammates - indicating that he isn't slowing down any time soon - but considering he'd likely cost over £100m, Chelsea would likely get more value for their money by investing in a younger model instead.
Chelsea will reap the rewards of the transfer approach employed last summer for many years to come, stretching beyond Tuchel's stay in London, and that strategy of signing extremely talented players before their prime goes against Salah's purchase.
Ultimately, the rumours should probably be recognised as little more than speculation surrounding a contract stand-off, with the ex-Blues attacker likely to be using his former employers to gain leverage at the negotiation table with Liverpool.
