Chelsea's summer transfer window is over.
After spending more than £200million on new arrivals, the Blues decided not to make any moves on deadline day, only allowing departures.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek departed for Fulham, while Tiemoue Bakayoko also departed, joining Napoli on loan.
Chelsea were understood to be interested in Declan Rice, but put off by his valuation, said to be around £80million, Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey was floated as an alternative.
Partey instead joins Arsenal after the Gunners activated his £45million release clause and the Blues decided not to hijack the move due to a lack of significant departures.
Having spent so much on new arrivals, Chelsea needed a number of players to leave in order to fund another big signing, as reported by the Telegraph.
The likes of Marcos Alonso, Emerson Palmieri and Antonio Rudiger were all linked with exits but none of them departed, meaning Chelsea could not make a late bid for either of Rice or Partey.
Frank Lampard was keen to strengthen his midfield but he will now have to make do with what he has until at least January.
The Blues boss has N'Golo Kante and Jorginho at his disposal, as well as Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech in more advanced roles.
