Well, finished off last night hoping the Alexis Sanchez to Chelsea rumour would still be running. Of course we can all have an opinion on whether we think it will happen or not, but ultimately it`s all down to two men, Sanchez and his agent. The consensus of opinion across the Twittersphere and Red Top Land tonight is, Sanchez will be a United player within 48 hours.
So moving on from that short diversion, it`s back to the usual suspects for a recap. Chelsea`s interest in Riyad Mahrez, if there ever was any, also seems to fallen off the radar. The only club mentioned in connection with the Algerian are Liverpool FC, although with the £100m price tag Leicester City have put on Mahrez, he may well find himself seeing out the season with the Foxes. According to The Express, Leicester boss Claude Puel believes Mahrez is happy where he is, talking about a possible exit, he said,
`Perhaps; maybe in the summer he will cost even more than £100m, it`s just rumours, noise about him. We can see Riyad smile, enjoying his football, enjoying to play with his team-mates. After the training session he continues to play, I wanted him to stay rested, but it`s perfect.
That`s another one ticked off the ‘not joining list`. Alex Sandro to Chelsea has also gone cold. Yesterday it was reported on the Italian news outlet Calciomercato that Sandro`s drop off in form this season is a result of the interest that Chelsea have shown in him. Meanwhile, a couple of days ago, The Mirror reported that Manchester United, remember them, have also added the Brazilian left back to their transfer wishlist. The paper cites a transfer fee in the region of £53m.
This could be one of those eleventh hour, final day of the window deals that sees Sandro signed at 11pm on the 31st January. There is an update to this story this evening, again on Calciomercato, who now claim Juventus have agreed to discuss Sandro`s departure in the summer for a more reasonable fee than the £53m currently being cited. Whether Chelsea will be included in that deal, is yet to be known.
Another possibility to tick off the ‘won`t be joining list` is Red Star Belgrade striker Richmond Boakye, the The Daily Mail claim Chelsea have not followed up on the interest they showed earlier in the season having scouted the Ghanaian.
We`ve covered the Andy Carroll latest in an article of its own earlier, it seems that if Carroll i going to move to Chelsea, it`s going to have be on a permanent deal. West Ham are not willing to contemplate a loan deal for their top target man, who, not unusually is currently injured. According to Matt Law in the Telegraph the talks are already underway,
Chelsea approach West Ham about signing Andy Carroll on permanent deal | @Matt_Law_DT reports https://t.co/A6KVpYXufv
? Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) January 16, 2018
It`s been a quiet day for Chelsea transfer activity, but we do like to finish with a nice little clip of something. As we`re playing Norwich City tomorrow, in our FA Cup replay, it`s 16 years today that Gianfranco Zola scored that legendary near post back heel goal against the Canaries. Frank Lampard has been trying to recreate it with some of Chelsea`s Under 18 squad.
With help from Frank Lampard, our Under-18s had a go at recreating that magical Gianfranco Zola goal v Norwich! 💫 pic.twitter.com/SAIWRmfNIH
? Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 16, 2018
That`s all for tonight, it`s a matchday tomorrow but if there`s anything to report it`ll be here at 10pm.