Chelsea may be leaving their biggest business later than usual this summer but it's been another window of impressively shrewd recruitment from the Premier League champions.

In my opinion, it's indisputable that Chelsea have lead the Premier League in the transfer market since Jose Mourinho's return to west London in summer 2013. They may have splashed out £281million in that time period, just £6million less than Manchester City and £8million less than Manchester United, but their net spend is a meagre £80million - in essence, the average cost of two top class players by the standards of today's market.

Likewise, Mourinho's completely transformed a squad that finished 25 and 14 points off the top in the two seasons prior to his re-arrival at Stamford Bridge, replacing those who oozed style but lacked substance with signings that brought the roster closer to his own image; one of organisation, physicality, industry and clinical quality.

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January 2014 provides a classic case in point; whilst Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne exited the club for Manchester United and Wolfsburg respectively, generating £55million in sales, Mourinho brought in Nemanja Matic, the 6 foot 5 tough-tackling monolith who epitomises the Mourinho mentality and has dominated Premier League midfields either since.

And changes to Chelsea's spine have been a recurring theme throughout his second spell as Blues boss.

The one he inherited; Petr Cech, David Luiz, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres; is now different in its entirety, through Thibaut Courtois, John Terry, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa.

It can cost clubs unimaginable amounts of time and money to change the backbone of their team. Consider Manchester United for example, who have almost outspent Chelsea's £281million during Louis van Gaal's tenure alone, or Manchester City, who have spent £419million since summer 2011 - the window in which they signed Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid - without actually making any notable changes to their spine at all, barring the relatively recent introduction of Fernandino at the base of midfield.

Their net spend in those time periods are £125million and £267million respectively. But Mourinho has completely changed the spine and ideology of his starting Xi for significantly less and justified it by claiming the Premier League title.

Of course, Chelsea's loan farm operation is an enormous advantage. It sources vast sums for Mourinho's budget from players who have featured on just a handful of occasions for their parent club - in some instances, no occasions at all - and provides an exclusive talent pool for the Portuguese to dip into, Courtois being the most obvious example.

But whether by coincidence or design, the club must be given huge credit for discovering a model that circumvents their limits under Financial Fair Play. Without the Blues' loan army, they'd struggle to compete financially with the likes of United, City and PSG. Even with it, they're still behind the big three; Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Fast forward to the current transfer window and Chelsea's spend of £58million, a modest sum compared to the last two summers, hasn't convinced everybody. Some accuse the champions of letting their rivals overtake them via the transfer market; a theory seemingly validated by the stuttered start to their Premier League title defence and particularly the 3-0 romping at the hands of Manchester City.

Yet, I see a club meticulously insisting upon value for money, taking into account they already possess a squad that claimed the English crown with games to spare last season and thus expect any deal to be made on their terms. Raheem Sterling may already be proving an integral component of a new-look Man City side, for example, but the Etihad outfit effectively took six months to reduce Liverpool's valuation from £50million to £49million. Hardly an exemplary piece of business.

Even in Chelsea's smaller deals for less integral areas of the squad, I see a unrivalled shrewdness when compared to the rest of the division. Asmir Begovic could easily hold down a No.1 berth at a regular Champions League club, so to sign him for just £8million and convince him to serve as understudy to Thibaut Courtois is the best possible outcome from a situation the club didn't want to be in - selling decade-long servant Petr Cech to a direct divisional rival.

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Likewise, although Radamel Falcao struggled at Manchester United last season, it was only two years ago many lauded him as the best finisher in world football, amassing 142 goals in 178 appearances throughout his spells with FC Porto and Atletico Madrid. It remains to be seen if the 29 year-old can reach those levels again after consecutive seasons of recurring injury problems, but if Mourinho can restore the Colombian to half the player he once was then Chelsea will have pulled off one of the coups of the summer.

Additionally, he's worked with Diego Costa before at Vincente Calderon and goes some way to filling the abyss of top level experience Didier Drogba unfortunately leaves behind.

And there is perhaps no signing that represents Chelsea's consistent ability to find fantastic value in the market better than last week's arrival, Pedro. Pound for pound, he's easily one of the best - if not the best - Premier League additions of the summer at a miserly cost of £21million. After all, we're talking about a three-time Champions League winner, five-time La Liga winner, former World Cup and European Championship winner still with plenty of gas left in the tank at the age of 28.

That trophy haul speaks for itself but one only need watch the Spaniard's debut for Chelsea - a one-goal-one-assist display against West Brom last Sunday - to realise how incredible a player he truly is; blessed with all the technical quality you'd expect of a Barcelona star yet further enriched with an incredible positional perception, a relentless work rate off the ball and the understanding of the responsibility it takes to be a team player rather than simply a very capable individual.

Throw in his ability to play anywhere across the front, his renowned consummate professionalism and his high regard throughout the sport as a humble and modest man, and it simply amazes me Manchester United had the audacity to haggle for less. In a nutshell, he's a world-class player and a world-class team member who didn't cost Chelsea a world-class sum.

The Blues may be about to break type in the transfer market, with reports suggesting they're trying to broker a last-minute £70million deal for Juventus star Paul Pogba. Likewise, their expected £40million bid for John Stones following his transfer request at Everton isn't exactly cheap. In fact, you could argue it's extortionate considering his Premier League career to date consists of just 47 games.

Both deals would break Premier League records; the division's record fee and the highest fee ever paid for a defender respectively. Yet, after two summers of dotting every metaphorical 'I' and crossing every proverbial 't' in the transfer market, Chelsea - more than any major Premier League club - deserve to take a few financial risks.

That being said, if there's any two youngsters in European football you'd bank on having an incredibly prosperous future, it's probably Stones and Pogba. Where others are seeing risk, Chelsea are seeing shrewd long-term investments.

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