It seems so long ago now that eyebrows were raised and jokes made about Chelsea's transfer strategy when David Luiz was brought back to the club, along with former Bolton and Sunderland defender Marcos Alonso. During the summer, the pair appeared to be panic buys in SW6 in stark contrast to the much-celebrated signing of N'Golo Kante.
However, both have proved - alongside Kante - to be vital members of Antonio Conte's table-topping side and few could have imagined it would actually be Michy Batshuyai making the smallest impact at the club. With that in mind, we here at FFC recently asked Blues fans online who they thought was the best signing of the season, outside of the aforementioned former Leicester City midfielder.
As you'd imagine, it threw up some interesting results.
3. Michy Batshuyai
To be fair to the Belgian, he has struggled for game time through no fault of his own. Such is the nature of Diego Costa's form right now, the former Marseille man cannot buy a game ahead of the Spaniard, other than a few token minutes towards the end of proceedings.
As a result, he's already been touted for an exit from Stamford Bridge, even though Costa's future remains relatively unclear.
2. Marcos Alonso
With Chelsea in dire need of a left-back over the course of the summer, Marcos Alonso's late signing in August looked to be a rather uninspiring one. The Spaniard had improved while plying his trade in Serie A for Fiorentina, though endured rather unconvincing spells with both Sunderland and Bolton in the Premier League before.
However, he's taken to life in the left wing-back role rather well indeed, giving the Blues a crucial outlet up and down the flanks to afford the likes of Eden Hazard, Pedro and Willian to roam.
1. David Luiz
Whether or not David Luiz has genuinely improved as a defender or is merely complimented by the safety a defensive triumvirate brings remains to be seen, although there's little doubt he's played a huge part in what looks like a title win.
The Brazilian's ability to bring the ball out of defence is a key asset in this system, while the lapses in concentration previously so prevalent in his game are no longer apparent. Such was his perception prior to this season, it seems the wider footballing public are quick to downplay his impact, however Luiz looks to have convinced his own faithful this season.