When Chelsea entered the January transfer window there was a clear sense that little was to be expected. After all, led by the co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, the best part of £1billion had been spent in the previous two years to completely remake the entire squad.

Three weeks later and there has been both an alarming lack of action at Stamford Bridge and too much noise at the same time. Enzo Maresca's playing group still looks short in some key areas, as it has done since the summer, and those on the outside are yet to be given new homes.

During it all, Chelsea have been once more looking into financially incentivised exchanges when selling players. Mathys Tel, for example, was not a known target until Bayern Munich expressed interest in Christopher Nkunku.

The feedback may well be that Chelsea enquired over Tel and look at him last year but the reality is that a deal wasn't really considered until they were in a position here to sell on Nkunku. Go beyond this deal and the same pattern occurred with Atletico Madrid (Joao Felix in, Conor Gallagher out), Aston Villa (Ian Maatsen out, Omari Kellyman in) and Leicester City (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in, Michael Golding out).

Talks with Borussia Dortmund over a move for Renato Veiga overlapped with newfound plans to bring in Jamie Gittens. There was little surprise when Douglas Luiz emerged as a midfield target, once Veiga and Juventus had started conversations.

This is very much the model now being used at Chelsea. There are still 10 days to go for things to have a more tangible outcome with only a handful of youth loans completed so far.

Here, football.london takes a look at what would constitute a dream state of play before the February 3 deadline.

Incomings

Starting with the exciting business. A lot of these will depend on outgoings. For example, if Chelsea are going to sign Alejandro Garnacho - which would be a good piece of work if the price is right - then Mykhailo Mudryk is going to struggle to play whether his suspension for failing a drug's test is extended into a wider ban or not.

Felix, who is reportedly a target for AC Milan and will consider his future in the summer, is also going to face added competition for his spot. His arrival looks more and more misguided by the week.

Garnacho, as a left-winger, is definitely a talented prospect who has shown flashes of Premier League brilliance already. If a deal of around £45million could be achieved and the exits happened alongside that, it could be a shrewd transfer.

As for a striker, Nkunku would surely have to exit for Chelsea to land Liam Delap or anyone likely to fight with Nicolas Jackson. Chelsea looked at Tel as an option, but their valuation of over £60million for Nkunku has seen things slow down before the summer.

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Delap is probably the most achievable mid-season addition in this area of the field. His price later this year will depend on if Ipswich Town stay in the Premier League or not but it wouldn't be a total shock if Chelsea did try and test their resolve in the last week of the window.

The most pressing part of the squad right now is in midfield. Romeo Lavia is injured for an unknown period of time but will need careful reintegration when he is back - it only took 60 minutes into the latest of his gradual returns for another fitness issue to arise.

Enzo Fernandez is also out for now. It has left Maresca with one fit senior midfielder; Moises Caicedo. He is running on empty after being so stretched. Against Wolves Dewsbury-Hall paired him, but is a long way from match sharp at this level having hardly played.

Chelsea have the option to recall on-loan duo Andrey Santos and Lesley Ugochukwu, both of who look ready to provide cover. Instead of paying to help Luiz get his career back on track - or signing Hellas Verona's Reda Belahyane on a permanent deal - investing the time this season to players who are already owned by the club makes much more sense.

Outgoings

This is where things have gotten a bit messy. Ben Chilwell still has no new club and neither does Carney Chukwuemeka. Both players were pushing to leave over the summer, but suitable deals couldn't be finalised.

Chelsea are not benefiting from having either on board and are wasting money on wages, especially in the case of Chilwell's enormous contract. These were the sorts of transfers that looked to be a priority moving through December and into the window.

Cesare Casadei, despite being another who was seemingly on his way out in the summer and has had a run-up to this window being offered to clubs in Italy, is in the same camp. Somehow he still hasn't been sold. Two-and-a-half years on and Chelsea will be breaking even on him at best, making a possible net loss. Has it all been worth it?

Elsewhere and Axel Disasi is looking for a new club, but very little progress has been made there. Omari Kellyman, Harvey Vale, Deivid Washington and others in the Under-21 side are all in need of loans for experience, as well.