As the January window slowly winds down the rumour mill begins to settle down to tittle-tattle that may actually happen. As a result the wacky wild card stories begin to dwindle.
With already covered Chelsea`s supposed bid to to sign Leicester City`s Islam Slimani here. I do like the way that both The Sun and The Daily Mail, who run a similar story, are keen to call Slimani the Leicester City flop Islam Slimani. It`s like that`s the only type of player Chelsea are after. Everyone knows that`s not the case. It`s only injured players Chelsea go for.
There is another new name being mentioned in connection with a move to Chelsea today. It`s another of those left-field names, again this story comes courtesy of the those folks at The Sun, who claim Roman Abramovich has been recommended the services of Burnley Ashley Barnes.
The recommendation comes from on high. So called, super agent Pini Zahavi is the man behind the deal. No fee has been mentioned for the 28-year-old so far. Barnes was not the most popular of players amongst the Chelsea faithful, after he made a potentially career ending tackle on the Blues former midfielder Nemanja Matic.
In that incident Barnes ‘leg-breaker` tackle went unpunished, however Matic`s retribution ended in a sending off. Strangely enough the two met up again yesterday and Matic hadn`t forgotten that tackle,
Matic, the seasoned veteran, exacts revenge on Barnes for that awful challenge nearly three years ago at Stamford Bridge. I see you Nemanja. my man played the long game. pic.twitter.com/BMSo1IibN3
? amadí (@amadoit__) January 20, 2018
You have to wonder if these rumours have any validity whatsoever, or if they`re just put out there as some sort of smokescreen or to reduce the price of another deal somewhere else. As with all these things, only time will tell.
One player that never quite had a chance at Chelsea, and one we believe should have been given more time was Andre Schurrle. Like so many, he fell victim to Jose Mourinho`s, ‘doesn`t track back enough` theory. His current club Borussia Dortmund are offering him out on loan for eighteen months, that according to the The Daily Mail.
As part of any deal Dortmund are offering to pay half his current £150,000 a week wages. Unfortunately, it appears Chelsea are not interested as it stands. Clubs that are interested are believed to be Stoke City and Newcastle United. Chelsea as we know, do have a history of re-signing old players and Marina does like a bargain, and he is a bit injury prone.
Borussia Dortmund offer Andre Schurrle to Premier League clubs on loan… with the German side willing to pay half his £150,000-a-week wages https://t.co/ObAGM3dHqJ pic.twitter.com/zgXQZrXCSf
? MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) January 21, 2018
One player who won`t be joining Chelsea this January and has previously been linked is Arturo Vidal, who spoke following Bayern Munich`s 4-2 win over Werder Bremen. Post match he said,
`I’m still here until June and I’m happy, I hope to win the Champions League and then we’ll see what happens, but at this moment I am 100 per cent at Bayern and there is no chance of changing teams.`
To be honest, Arturo, you`re alright. We weren`t particularly interested anyway?.famous last words….but at 30, the boat to Chelsea may have already sailed.
Heading into the 10pm deadline for this article, something always changes. According to the The Evening Standard`s rolling transfer news article, Edin Dzeko, started for Roma in this evening`s game against Inter Milan. That`s never usually a sign of someone on the brink of a move away.
The same article also states Chelsea have now taken an interest in another one of West Ham`s strikers. This time it`s even more unlikely than Andy Carroll arriving. The Standard cite Sky Sports who in turn claim Chelsea don`t fancy splashing out £40m on Dzeko and as such have turned their attentions to the Hammers Marko Arnautovic. If David Moyes was unwilling to let go an injury prone 29 year-old, it`s hardly likely he`ll want to see his star striker sold. That has to be hogwash.
To finish tonight, just a short piece about another potential Chelsea target. Leon Bailey has long been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge. Currently at Bayer Leverkusen, the winger posted a photo of himself in a Chelsea shirt on social media two years ago.
Dream big 🙏💯 #Humble pic.twitter.com/NRusxVOcqt
? Leon Bailey ⚽️9️⃣ (@leonbailey) July 6, 2015
Earlier this month, the young Jamaican gave an interview to the German magazine Bild, in which he was asked if he had a dream club that he`d like to play for, his reply was,
`Of course I have a dream club, but I will not tell. Basically England was and still is my dream. And if I keep working hard, I’m sure it will work someday.`
Today, he scored a cheeky back heel goal, it`s a good place to finish for tonight,
Leon Bailey is doing some ridiculous things this season 🙌
The latest? A 12-yard backheel goal 😮👏 pic.twitter.com/OUIsM8r6w5
? Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 20, 2018
Back tomorrow at 10pm, let`s see how much close Dzeko is or isn`t.