Chelsea transformed into a powerhouse when Roman Abramovich arrived at the club in 2003, flexing his deep pockets in the transfer window and bringing a whole host of stars to Stamford Bridge.
In the mid-2000s, his appointment of Jose Mourinho, famously known as the "Special One" was the catalyst to achieving success as the eccentric Portuguese delivered back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.
Backed by a spine of world-class talent, namely Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, that quartet helped deliver a glittering decade of success, including a Champions League triumph in 2012.
During that period, the club were relishing their tussles with Manchester United at the top of the table, prior to Manchester City forming a winning juggernaut that continues to flex their domestic and European dominance.
Chelsea can only dream of replicating that success now and although Todd Boehly has spent over £1bn since taking over the reins from Abramovich in May last year, Mauricio Pochettino's side are still no closer to challenging Man City for the title.
Overspending for the sake of isn't just an issue that has popped up since the club's ownership changed hands, it was prominent during the Russian's tenure, as the Blues made countless errors in the transfer window and one of those was the decision to sign Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City in 2017.
How much did Chelsea sign Danny Drinkwater for?
Danny Drinkwater and N'Golo Kante's indispensable partnership was crucial in landing Leicester their fairytale Premier League title in 2016.
Kante's ability to break up play and Drinkwater's exceptional passing range created the perfect blend and offered Claudio Ranieri's side a solid platform to build from.
The Frenchman, in particular, caught the eye with his monstrous ball-winning abilities as he ranked higher than anyone in the league that season for interceptions (156) and tackles (175), earning him a £30m transfer to Chelsea that summer.
Kante ended up proving to be instrumental in luring the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge as Antonio Conte's first season in charge was a resounding success.
Following that triumph, the Italian was hungry for more silverware and spent a whopping £224m (€260m) on a whole host of talent, including a £35m deal to prise Drinkwater away from Leicester in the hopes of rekindling a title-winning partnership.
Instead, the Englishman's time at Stamford Bridge unravelled into a nightmare.
What happened to Danny Drinkwater at Chelsea?
Drinkwater rose to prominence as an excellent deep-lying maker during his time at Leicester. He exhumed calmness in possession and controlled the tempo of football matches with his brilliant passing range.
Chelsea thought the midfielder could become their conductor in midfield alongside Kante and bring his wealth of Premier League and Champions League experience to the party, however, the legacy he left behind in west London is one he'd want to forget.
In five years at the club, which included loan spells at Burnley, Aston Villa and Reading, the 32-year-old only made 23 appearances and bled the club dry in excess of £50m, when adding together his initial transfer fee and the amount of wages he earned, as per Capology.
Weekly wage: £98,000
Yearly wage: £5.1m
Total wage accrued: £15.3m (excluding time on loan)
Cost per game: £2.1m
Data via Capology
Going down as one of the worst signings in Premier League history is a tag nobody wants, but Drinkwater's time on the pitch spiralled into a nightmare time off it as he claimed to have wasted potentially some of the best years of his career and revealed how it impacted his mental health.
In an interview with Sky Sports, he commented: "When football is going well, everything else seems easier to deal with, but when this isn't going so well, everything seems so heavy. I definitely think that's the lowest I'd been."
Drinkwater's struggles at Chelsea are a timely reminder that footballers are only human and personal issues off the field can quickly get in the way of performances on it and unfortunately, the 6-foot flop fell victim to this narrative.