Chelsea were told they made a big mistake by selling Conor Gallagher, with their decision leaving ex-Blues star Emmanuel Petit baffled and upset.
Enzo Maresca's first summer in charge of Chelsea was chaotic enough to be dubbed a circus by some. A remarkable 11 newcomers arrived at Stamford Bridge, and this rose to 12 once Jadon Sancho made a Deadline Day move from Manchester United in the wake of Raheem Sterling's departure to Arsenal.
Whilst the club's uncurbed spending - registering their third successive £200million-topping summer market total - captured attention, the ousting of multiple players from the first team saw them criticised by pundits and fans alike. Namely, Gallagher's move to Atletico Madrid for £35m raised questions over how the club treat their academy products.
Petit believes that Gallagher was one of the Blues' better players during a disappointing sixth-placed league campaign last season and that the cold nature of his sale wasn't a good look.
"I was very, very upset about the situation because I really like him," Petit told David Seaman on his Seaman Says podcast via Betway. "Conor Gallagher was one of the best players last season, along with Cole Palmer, and he was on the transfer list!
"He was at Crystal Palace, then he came back, he was on loan so many times and then he showed, step by step, his qualities last season. I didn't understand because you give seven or eight-year contracts to players who you don't know from abroad.
"You give them a lot of money, you secure the future with them because of the FFP, because you cannot breach the rules. I can understand that.
"But, when you do things like this, like with Gallagher, I'm thinking that he's English, you know how important it is to have some English players for the fans, the identity, the DNA, for everything. I think it's very important so they have to be very careful.
"So you sell Gallagher, one of the best players from last season, for a cheap price tag £35m. And when you look at the money they spent for the last three or four seasons, I'm thinking, what the hell?"
Under Todd Boehly, the club's spending has stunningly surpassed the £1billion mark and continues to rise. This summer, Pedro Neto (£54m), Joao Felix (£45m), and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£30m) all signed for big money, but neither of the three started the club's 6-2 victory over Wolves.
Alongside Chelsea, Boehly's sports ownership extends back to his native United States, where he part-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks. Petit warns that the Premier League is not like US basketball or baseball leagues and the approach taken by the club's new hierarchy in the transfer market is not sustainable.
"European football is not American sport," Petit continued. "Buying young players to make a big money in a couple of years, I can understand that, but you need experience. You need a link between players, you need someone that can be a leader in the dressing room. I was seeing Gallagher becoming one of them in this team.”