Football FanCast brings you a Chelsea transfer round-up as the January transfer window gets underway.
Mauricio Pochettino is in his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge and has been busy strengthening his midfield ranks and welcoming a swathe of promising youngsters.
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The club spent a significant portion of the summer shipping off a huge number of first-team and squad players deemed surplus to requirements in Pochettino’s new regime, with a mixed set of results on the pitch thus far.
But what could be in store over the next few weeks? Here are the latest January rumours concerning the Blues:
Latest Chelsea transfer news – in
Tuesday 16th January
Viktor Gyokeres – Sporting CP: According to reports coming out of Portugal (via Metro), the Blues have lodged a huge £73m bid for the Swedish striker.
However, they have been told they will need to up that bid even more if they are to see the former Coventry City striker make the move to Stamford Bridge.
Since making the move from the Championship outfit, the 25-year-old has shown his worth in the Portuguese top flight having provided an impressive return of 20 goals and 10 assists in his 24 appearances this term (via Transfermarkt).
With the bid reportedly being turned down, it is believed the Blues have been told to pay Gyokeres’ €100m (£86m) release clause in full.
Tuesday 16th January
Karim Benzema & Roberto Firmino – Saudi Pro League: According to The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards, with the Blues looking to add to their frontline, Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino could become real options.
A short-term deal could suffice for the Londoners to see them through to the summer transfer window and the likes of Benzema and the former Liverpool man, Firmino, could fit that bill.
Firmino will not have enjoyed his time on the pitch for Al-Ahli having only scored three goals in his 19 appearances. Meanwhile, Benzema has enjoyed more success with 12 goals in total – which may make it difficult to prise him away from Al-Ittihad.
“Chelsea are lacking a centre-forward, a presence in the box – and Benzema, Firmino, yes, they’re the wrong age of 30, but I think most teams in the Premier League would take them,” Edwards said.
“If they can somehow wangle a sort of short-term deal for one of those players, I think that would make a lot of sense.”
Latest Chelsea transfer news – out
Monday 15th January
Trevoh Chalobah – Napoli: According to reports coming out of Italy, the reigning Scuddetto champions have enquired about potentially bringing in the defender this month.
But the Seire A giants are said to be waiting on a response as to whether the Blues would allow Chalobah to depart on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
It is clear the future of the 24-year-old is up in the air at Stamford Bridge with a number of clubs having already been linked with him ahead of the winter window.
Having not played this season, perhaps the Blues should consider granting Chalobah the opportunity to rack up some minutes elsewhere.