The smile belonged to Marcos Alonso on transfer deadline day. But across from the Spaniard in his new surroundings inside the Chelsea dressing room, Branislav Ivanovic will be wearing a concerned frown.
Now that the international break is coming to a close, it's club football that is entering the fray once again. And for Ivanovic, his position at Chelsea is under serious threat. His day of judgement is on the horizon.
A left-back replacing a right-back—the notion seems at odds with itself. But then this is Chelsea. It's that sort of imbalance and disjointed reality that has come to define the club in recent years, notably on the back of a skewed transfer policy.