Amid the understandable furore surrounding Romelu Lukaku's 100m transfer from Inter to Chelsea, a potentially significant deficiency in the squad was overlooked.
Despite signing one of the finest strikers on the planet, Chelsea find themselves with no real alternative - as ridiculous as it may sounds given their strength in depth.
Four days on from the prolific Belgian's arrival at Stamford Bridge from Italy in August, Tammy Abraham was allowed to travel in the opposite direction to join Roma - stripping the Blues of the only individual who came anywhere close to matching Lukaku's profile following Olivier Giroud's own switch to Serie A a month prior.
Perhaps Thomas Tuchel and the Chelsea hierarchy didn't think they would need a second centre-forward, but Lukaku's fast start - four goals in four games - has given way to an unexpected six-match barren spell, prompting concerns the curse of the club's number nine shirt is striking again.
Two months and ten games into his second spell at the club, his coach is being forced to look for answers.
