Grading Chelsea on Their 2016 Summer Transfer Window Business

Now the drama is over, we get to sit back and take a deep breath. Transfer deadline day has passed, and football managers can relax—well, until January at least, when it all starts up again for the winter window.

Chelsea concluded their summer window with two deadline-day signings, reinforcing Antonio Conte's options at the back. In came Marcos Alonso for £24 million from Fiorentina, while the shock of the afternoon was the sight of David Luiz rocking up at St. Pancras Station in London, fresh off the Eurostar and ready to seal his return to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues paid Paris Saint-Germain £32 million for the Brazilian, shaving a hefty chunk off the £50 million fee they received for Luiz two summers previous.

Since June, we had seen Chelsea chasing a host of defenders on the continent, but Luiz was never linked with the club until the eve of the window closing. A move straight out of left field, Luiz's return has come with a mixed response. Chelsea fans are happy to see a club hero return, but from a footballing perspective, there are concerns given Luiz's penchant for disappearing at times.

So should we be concerned about Chelsea's overall transfer dealings? Have the Blues done enough to strengthen and move on their fringe players? Will they be a force to be reckoned with in 2016/17?

Join Bleacher Report as we grade Chelsea's summer transfer window business.

Players In

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There was a total of five signings from new boss Conte this summer. The Italian had barely been in the job for a week when the club confirmed the capture of N'Golo Kante, added to the earlier signing of Michy Batshuayi. But then it went quiet, very quiet.

It wasn't until the transfer of goalkeeper Eduardo from Dinamo Zagreb—he arrived for nothing as third-choice to Thibaut Courtois and Asmir Begovic—on August 23 that we saw another new face. Given Chelsea's defensive shortages, signing a third goalkeeper before a new left-back and centre-back was a big, big concern for Blues fans.

The season was in full flow, and still Conte had just four first-team defenders to select from. When Kurt Zouma eventually returns to fitness, it would still have only been five had reinforcements not arrived. It wasn't looking positive for the Blues, but then deadline day changed all that.

With the capture of Alonso and Luiz, Chelsea's defence is looking far more adaptable than it was. Forget the names on the backs of shirts for a moment—Chelsea have some real options now.

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Alonso is an out-and-out left-back, meaning Cesar Azpilicueta is able to shift back to his more natural position on the right, bringing a better balance to the back line. With Luiz reuniting with John Terry and Gary Cahill, add Zouma into the equation, and it's a reinforced defensive core. Branislav Ivanovic can play on the right or centrally, too.

It all means that Conte can adjust his team at times of need. He has the option to play the favoured defensive three we saw him deploy with Juventus and Italy or keep a more traditional back four, which will play to Terry's strengths. We've seen that in Chelsea's first four matches.

Not only that, but with Azpilicueta and Alonso more balanced, Chelsea's attacking options are reinforced. These early outings under Conte have shown how the Blues will be playing a higher line this season with the aim of turning over possession closer to the opposition penalty area. With a left-back and right-back naturally suited to their flank, it gives Chelsea more scope to be efficient with the possession they win.

That means more width and threat from players getting the ball into the danger areas quicker. A criticism of Azpilicueta on the left is that his weaker foot means he has to cut inside much too often. Alonso won't have that problem, and neither will Azpilicueta on his natural side.

Whether the wingers be Eden Hazard and Willian or Pedro and Victor Moses, we can expect them to drift inside more and give Chelsea bodies in areas that hurt teams, allowing the full-backs to overlap and give that extra width.

Well, that's the theory at least. The reality is going to be something much different, and with Alonso not arriving until deadline day, it means Conte will still be forced to work hard on the training ground to get his message across.

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Adding players so late into the window is far from ideal, especially for a new manager who was on international duty deep into the summer. Conte may have started well, but he has it all to do to catch up with Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in Manchester if Chelsea are to keep up the pace all season.

There's also the question of quality. We can't deny the wisdom in signing Kante and Batshuayi; they already look impressive, especially the former, who has made a considerable impact at the heart of midfield.

Had Chelsea been able to get deals done earlier this summer, it's doubtful Alonso and Luiz would be Chelsea players. They were chasing a higher calibre of defender, and the feeling is they have had to lower expectations to get players in, hence Alonso and Luiz arriving.

They've addressed the two areas they had to, but there will be question marks over the long-term suitability of Alonso and Luiz.

That said, with Chelsea refusing to be high-balled in the transfer market, paying the £56 million or so they did for two defenders on deadline day represents good value for money. In a transfer market that is overly inflated, average players are commanding much higher fees, so to bring in Alonso and Luiz for the money they did, the Blues have still got some value for their investment.

Again, we're left questioning why it all took so long. That's two consecutive summers now that Chelsea have done business late, which doesn't say much for their planning, especially when they've had since the Mourinho departure last December to put pieces in place.

Overall, it's been a mixed window for Chelsea in terms of their signings.

	Club	Position	Fee
Michy Batshuayi	Marseille	Striker	£33m
N'Golo Kante	Leicester City	Midfielder	£30m
Eduardo	Dynamo Zagreb	Goalkeeper	Free
Maarcos Alonso	Fiorentina	Defender	£23m
David Luiz	Paris Saint-Germain	Defender	£32m

Grade: C

Players Out

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Chelsea raised around £24 million in sales this summer, which, if we're looking at them balancing the books, paid for the arrival of new left-back Alonso.

Chelsea didn't dilute the strength of the first-team squad in the process, either, which is vital. No big stars left, and the players who are all going to be vital this season have been retained.

Instead, it was a mini cull of the transfer mistakes of the past that took place.

Mohamed Salah made his loan move to Roma permanent with a £12 million transfer, while Papy Djilibodji joined Sunderland for £8 million. Stipe Perica moved to Udinese for £3 million, while John Swift (Reading) and Reece Mitchell (Chesterfield) left on free transfers.

It's the sale of Djilibodji that impressed most. He played barely a minute of first-team football in Chelsea colours, but the Blues were able to make a £5 million profit on what they paid Nantes for him in 2015. From a  business perspective, it's an incredible return.

Djilibodji has been a stick to beat Chelsea with. He was a symbol of their failings last year, arriving late in the window only to play the role of a training-ground dummy. Mourinho needed an extra defender, and Djilibodji was what he got. It's no wonder the team nosedived.

Now he's gone, Chelsea can forget about the saga and they're doing so by counting a hefty profit, too.

If we look at the first-team squad, there was more need to add players than sell them this summer, so Chelsea did well to raise funds from those who offered little to the club's pursuit of returning to the top of English football.

	To	Position	Fee
Mohamed Salah	Roma	Midfielder	£12m
Papy Djilibodji	Sunderland	Defender	£8m
Stipe Perica	Udinese	Striker	£3m
John Swift	Reading	Midfielder	Free
Reece Mitchell	Chesterfield	Striker	Free

Grade: B+

Loan Players

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For most clubs, we discuss transfer ins and outs, and that's the end of it. But this is Chelsea, and every transfer window involves a flood of loan moves.

There are 38 players on loan from Chelsea this season, and some big names feature in that number. Juan Cuadrado has returned to Juventus, while Loic Remy has joined Crystal Palace and Baba Rahman has moved to Schalke.

Importantly, and most surprising, is that Victor Moses has remained to be part of Conte's squad when he's been loaned out for the past three seasons.

The bulk of the loan players are from Chelsea's academy. It's going to be interesting to see the likes of Charlie Colkett and Jake Clarke-Salter get their first taste of regular senior football with Bristol Rovers, while Tammy Abraham is already among the goals at Bristol City.

Kasey Palmer is another player to look out for at Huddersfield Town. Matt Miazga is at Vitesse Arnhem, so eyes will be on the American to see how he develops.

Those are the positives, with the loan moves of Nathan Ake and Lewis Baker the disappointments. Both are players who appeared to be on the cusp of challenging for a place on the bench at Chelsea but instead they left the club early in the window.

Given the shortages in Chelsea's squad, surely it would have been better to assess Ake first before allowing him to join Bournemouth. The same goes for Baker, who impressed this summer with England's under-21s at the Toulon Tournament.

For the full list of Chelsea's loan players, visit the club's official website, where all 38 players are featured.

Grade: B

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.