City, having lost the battle, recovered to win the war. So perhaps a little caution should accompany the declaration that I have never seen a squad better equipped to take the title than Chelsea are now—yes, even now, with most of summer’s leaves still to descend on the avenues surrounding Stamford Bridge.

The club did such excellent work in the summer, buying—or, in the case of Petr Cech, keeping—players for every role that might be required. Out went Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. In came an attacking midfielder—Cesc Fabregas—and left-footed attacking left-back—Felipe Luis—reminiscent of each in his prime.

Out went Fernando Torres and in came Diego Costa. Out went a couple of other strikers deemed unsatisfactory for one reason or another—Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba—and in came Loic Remy, whom fellow title challengers Arsenal had wanted. To summarise, Chelsea had replaced those they no longer required with those their rivals coveted.
They were even able to pay for it without falling foul of UEFA’s financial fair play regulations due to the lavish sums paid by obliging rivals for those were not of the Mourinho type, such as Juan Mata and David Luiz.

This came on top of the good business done last winter in re-engaging Nemanja Matic to take over from the less mobile John Obi Mikel in defensive midfield. And, of course, last summer’s wise retrieval of Jose Mourinho; he might have preferred to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but it was Roman Abramovich who made the move, and early enough for it to be decisive even if second thoughts were to dawn on the Glazers.

The presence of Mourinho has knock-on effects, because players will make decisions about their futures based on his ability to help them to win medals.
Would Cech, for example, have agreed to stay and have a tug-of-war with Thibaut Courtois for the goalkeeper’s jersey if he did not believe this squad could, under this manager, go all the way for both the English and European titles, each of which he has won twice before? An educated guess may be made.
Courtois, who made his name at such a tender age on loan at Atletico Madrid, has yet to encounter a serious slump in form, but the best method of ensuring he avoids the kind of dip suffered by Joe Hart at City last autumn was to retain Cech. And, if the worst comes to the worst, there is always a fellow member of the world elite to come back in.
Even during his previous spell at Stamford Bridge, when Mourinho took over a side of which Lampard, John Terry and Claude Makelele were staples and reaped the benefit of such additions as Cech, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba, he did not possess the strength in depth that Chelsea command now.
There are two top players for every position and his luxury of choice is extended by the versatility of, say, Ramires, whose pace and industry can be utilised in either defensive or attacking midfield. Cesar Azpilicueta can play at left- or right-back, Branislav Ivanovic at right-back or in central defence.
Only City, temporarily bolstered by the evergreen Lampard, can rotate as impressively, and even they have had problems when Yaya Toure falls below the dominant standard he set in driving the Etihad club to two Premier titles in three years.

It hardly takes a genius, though, to state that the main difference in Chelsea this season is at the front.
There, Mourinho’s choice is between Costa and Remy and, while thus far it has not been a choice because Costa has made the most prolific start by a striker in the Premier League era, the Frenchman may have to deputise at Sporting Lisbon tomorrow night due to the tightness in a hamstring that renders Costa’s feat all the more remarkable.

The Brazil-born Spain striker has not been fully fit for months. Having helped Atletico over the line in the race for the domestic title, he had to come off early in the Champions League final and never approached his best form in the World Cup. Yet already he threatens to become the best all-round centre-forward in the Premier League’s relatively brief history, eclipsing even Drogba and Alan Shearer.
Of course these are early days and, in any case, I can hear the scornful shouts on behalf of Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry. And I don’t think there have been any players more influential on the fortunes of clubs than they. But I’m talking about pure centre-forwards, No. 9s, people who play constantly at the sharp end of the team like Drogba did and Costa so enthusiastically does, grappling and snarling with defenders one minute and confounding them with his artful movement the next.
He’s shaping up to be a bargain at £32 million—a potential player of the season for what is, at this infant stage, very much the team of the season.