Normally we are talking about the major deals that go through on transfer deadline day, but this summer, it was all about Ross Barkley and his dramatic U-turn when a move to Chelsea seemed in the bag.

The mercurial playmaker seemed a lock to leave Everton for the Premier League champions. He's into the last year of his contract, has been frozen out at Goodison Park and Chelsea are a huge club - all make sense right?

Well, apparently not. Initial reports suggested that the England international changed his mind mid-medical, but Barkley has since set the record straight and said the deal never got that far.

Other rumours suggested that boss Antonio Conte played no part in the negotiations and that was the main thing that turned Barkley off. Afterall, who would want to move to a club without knowing if the manager really wanted them?

According to The Times, there's a reason that Conte was left out of negotiations and it is not a good sign for Chelsea.

"The Times has learnt that Chelsea decided to keep the head coach away from transfer negotiations after his unsuccessful talks with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the same week, which ended with the Arsenal midfielder opting to join Liverpool."

So, one player opts to join another club and Conte is instantly thrown of transfers? That cannot sit well with the Italian nor is it a real vote of confidence from the powers-that-be at the club.

Besides, multiple reports have suggested Oxlade-Chamberlain had his heart set on a move to Liverpool all summer long and chances are no matter what Conte said, the Ox had already decided he wanted to play for Jurgen Klopp.

That's hardly a poor reflection of Conte.

But now, Chelsea's impulsive decision has cost them. They panicked at the end of the window and missed out on all of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fernando Llorente and Barkley because of nothing more than bad decisions.

They did end up securing Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta, but are they better than the aforementioned trio?