Chelsea were making headlines throughout transfer deadline day. There were links with a number of players, with names changing all the time as the day wore on.
One constant though was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whom the Blues were heavily linked with for a few weeks leading up to transfer deadline day. But it was not until right at the end of the window that a deal for the Gabonese striker was announced.
Aubameyang only left Arsenal in January when his contract was terminated by mutual consent, signing on a free for Barcelona. But with the Catalan giants having financial problems, as well as bringing in Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, Aubameyang was no longer required.
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Step forward Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea. The German has a good relationship with Aubameyang, having worked together at Borussia Dortmund. And Tuchel even played down Aubameyang's disciplinary issues that were at the heart of his problems under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates Stadium.
He said: "It was a pure pleasure to have him in the squad. Auba was a fantastic striker, a fantastic finisher. More than that, he was a fantastic worker off the pitch. I think he did not miss one single training in two years.
"Maybe he arrived five minutes late on the training ground, that can happen with him. But if he does this, he is in a hurry, he excuses, he feels sorry, he has still a smile on his face. It was a pleasure to work with him. He always had a smile on his face. He was a very, very honest guy."
Given their relationship and Chelsea's need for a striker and Barcelona's desire to get him off the books and bring in Marcos Alonso, it should have been an easy deal to complete. So why did it take so long?
Barcelona originally wanted around £25million for Aubameyang, a fee Chelsea were not willing to pay for a 33-year-old forward. Chelsea were also keen to include Alonso in a deal given the Spaniard wanted to depart and only had a year left on his Chelsea contract.
Barca, however, were not originally keen as they wanted a bigger fee for Aubameyang. As their financial constraints eased though, the swap deal became more viable and a deal looked like it would go through smoothly.
Aubameyang and his wife were then involved in an assault at their home in Spain, with the frontman breaking his jaw. Chelsea had to check it would not keep him out of action and the prospect of a loan deal briefly emerged. But around 24 hours before the window closed, the two clubs finally agreed a deal which would see Chelsea pay a fee of around £12million and see Alonso go to Barca.
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