Costa and Fabregas turned Chelsea into champions

It could be argued that Chelsea effectively won the title before a ball was kicked in anger this season.

The fail-safe signings of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas provided the upgrade required to return Chelsea to the kind of dominance they enjoyed in Jose Mourinho's first spell in charge.
 
While other managers procrastinated, Mourinho calmly identified his targets and struck. 1-0 to Chelsea.
 
Liverpool, who finished above Chelsea last season, spent 50 million pounds on a trio of players from Southampton and plenty more elsewhere in a frenzy of deals.
 
Mourinho, on the other hand, produced two masterstrokes for a combined 60 million pounds that now looks like small change, and both before the dust had even settled on the World Cup.
 
Costa has become the spearhead for Chelsea while Fabregas is the man to join up the lines of communication between midfield and attack, providing the silver service for the former Atletico Madrid player and the dazzling Eden Hazard.
 
Though Costa has struggled with injuries in the closing months, the Brazil-born Spaniard's devastating start to the campaign set the tone for Chelsea's season.
 
He needed only 17 minutes of his Premier League debut at Burnley to open his account and notched seven goals in his first four league appearances, erasing any doubts about his ability to transform his stunning La Liga form to the Premier League.
 
Not that Mourinho was the least bit surprised.
 
If ever there was a player equipped for the demands of English football it is the imposing Costa.
 
He delivers everything Fernando Torres failed to do.
 
Brute strength
 
His work rate is exemplary, his poaching instincts lethal, is deceptively fast and his brutish strength can unsettle even the toughest defenders. A lot like a certain Didier Drogba.
 
"The team was built in a way where we were waiting for a certain type of striker," Mourinho said earlier this season.
 
"Costa has the concept of 'the team first, and me second; the team needs me and I am ready to go for the team'.
 
"He is a leader of himself. He knows exactly what the team needs and is ready to give to the team."
 
Chelsea's title campaign has been built on a spine of steel.
 
Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, recalled from a loan spell at Atletico Madrid, behind the impeccable John Terry and Gary Cahill with Nemanja Matic providing a shield.
 
Willian and Ramires are the legs and Hazard the creative inspiration, but the vastly experienced Fabregas is the brains of the outfit, keeping Chelsea's cogs turning without grabbing the headlines.
 
"To play with Fabregas is the dream of every striker," Mourinho said this season.
 
It remains a mystery as to why Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger did not try harder to re-sign Fabregas when it was clear his time at Barcelona was coming to a close.
 
Had he done so Arsenal may have won the title, rather than Chelsea.