The BBC view on January Transfers

[byatt]

Budget: Will be determined by whether they sell. If the right player comes along money could be made available.

January previous: Chelsea tend not to be overly active in January, although they bucked that trend last season by signing Nicolas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic and Franco di Santo for a combined £27m.

What they need: The club want to keep activity to a minimum but if manager Luiz Felipe Scolari gets his way, he is likely to sign a forward and a defender. "Chelsea need a striker because their reliance on Anelka is becoming painful," says BBC London commentator Nick Godwin. "Michael Essien has a long-term injury but I can't imagine them signing a midfield replacement as they would have done in the past."

Who they might buy: On the striker front, Tuncay (Middlesbrough) and Amr Zaki (Wigan) could be pursued, while rumours surrounding a move for Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) persist. Wagner Love (CSKA Moscow) and Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) are also realistic options, while the Blues have reportedly agreed a £4m deal for 21-year-old SC Braga striker Orlando Sa. "Michael Owen would give Chelsea something different," adds BBC London sports editor Pete Stevens. "And they may be the only club who can afford his wage demands."

Who they might sell: Alex reportedly demanded a move away from Stamford Bridge but Scolari insists the centre-back is staying. Ivanovic has been linked with Inter Milan, Manchester City are said to be tracking Wayne Bridge, Ben Sahar could join Utrecht and Scott Sinclair is set for another loan move. BBC London commentator Phil Parry also believes Paulo Ferreira could be on his way out and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini might well go out on loan to Tottenham.

Edited December 30, 2008 by byatt

[Maksimov]

Carlo Cudicini might well go out on loan to Tottenham.

NO!

[loz]

Even if Alex did decide to leave and was sold then I would ne annopyed if we signed another central defender. We have an English U21 centre half in our squad and he can be brought back from loan at the end of January. It would be pathetic if we fgelt the need to sign another 4th choice centre half and ignored the potential in Mancienne.

[bjd]

Even if Alex did decide to leave and was sold then I would ne annopyed if we signed another central defender. We have an English U21 centre half in our squad and he can be brought back from loan at the end of January. It would be pathetic if we fgelt the need to sign another 4th choice centre half and ignored the potential in Mancienne.

I wouldn't bet against it Loz. In fact knowing what our club is like I wouldn't be surprised if we bought in one player in january and he is...a central midfielder.

[bonetti]

Budget: Will be determined by whether they sell. If the right player comes along money could be made available.

January previous: Chelsea tend not to be overly active in January, although they bucked that trend last season by signing Nicolas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic and Franco di Santo for a combined £27m.

What they need: The club want to keep activity to a minimum but if manager Luiz Felipe Scolari gets his way, he is likely to sign a forward and a defender. "Chelsea need a striker because their reliance on Anelka is becoming painful," says BBC London commentator Nick Godwin. "Michael Essien has a long-term injury but I can't imagine them signing a midfield replacement as they would have done in the past."

Who they might buy: On the striker front, Tuncay (Middlesbrough) and Amr Zaki (Wigan) could be pursued, while rumours surrounding a move for Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) persist. Wagner Love (CSKA Moscow) and Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) are also realistic options, while the Blues have reportedly agreed a £4m deal for 21-year-old SC Braga striker Orlando Sa. "Michael Owen would give Chelsea something different," adds BBC London sports editor Pete Stevens. "And they may be the only club who can afford his wage demands."

Who they might sell: Alex reportedly demanded a move away from Stamford Bridge but Scolari insists the centre-back is staying. Ivanovic has been linked with Inter Milan, Manchester City are said to be tracking Wayne Bridge, Ben Sahar could join Utrecht and Scott Sinclair is set for another loan move. BBC London commentator Phil Parry also believes Paulo Ferreira could be on his way out and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini might well go out on loan to Tottenham.

Good to see that Millwall arent worth a mention

[Mr Chelsea]

NO!

agreed

if he's gonna go he's got to go somewhere where he cannot affect chelsea in any way, i would prefer to see him going back to italy

[Chelsea Lad]

Carlo CANNOT go go to Spuds.

Ok now that's out the way I think it's fair to say that signing another defender would be completely ridiculas and a watse of money.

We need a striker to back up Drogba/Anelka or, more preferably, a winger.

I personally can't see us signing anyone and that'll be Scolari's excuse when he fails to take us to any final or trophy.

[Maksimov]

What we REALLY need is a proper left winger with pace and skill.

Edited December 30, 2008 by Maksimov

[dkw]

What we REALLY need is a proper left winger with pace and skill.

this exactly what we need, a pacy winger who can beat a man and put in a good ball. pretty much the opposite to the wingers we have now basically.

[ethicalstrategy]

Can someone explain to me why Real Madrid have already signed and sealed their January transfer targets and we haven't even started? Huntelaar, Diarra and Valencia, will all be joining at the beginning of Jan ready for when they restart their campaign. Chances are that we will still be faffing about right up to the midnight deadline on the 31st Jan.

[loz]

Because the bottom line is that when it boils down to it there are very few players in the world who wouldn't want to play for Real Madrid - despite current success levels they are still a bigger attraction than Barcelona.

We do not have anything like that kind of pulling power. When Real come knocking they usually get their man and get them quickly.

[Maksimov]

this exactly what we need, a pacy winger who can beat a man and put in a good ball. pretty much the opposite to the wingers we have now basically.

We have wingers? :D

[dkw]

We have wingers? :D

apparently, so our squad listing says. though i have my doubts.....

[forbzy]

We have wingers? :D

If we are talking about bringing in a new winger we may as well sell Sinclair too. If we would rather bring in another new signing without giving him a chance he clearly has no future at the club. What is the point of these continual loan deals if he isn't given a chance now when we have no wingers showing any form?

[dkw]

If we are talking about bringing in a new winger we may as well sell Sinclair too. If we would rather bring in another new signing without giving him a chance he clearly has no future at the club. What is the point of these continual loan deals if he isn't given a chance now when we have no wingers showing any form?

the truth is he hasnt looked anywhere near good enough in the reserves to make the breakthrough, and doesnt look to have progressed how we all hoped. in the games ive saw him in hes not really stood out, if anything stoch and kakuta have looked much better than him.

[Ruh Buh Juh]

What we REALLY need is a proper left winger with pace and skill.

*cough* Ben Arfa *cough*

[Maksimov]

If we are talking about bringing in a new winger we may as well sell Sinclair too. If we would rather bring in another new signing without giving him a chance he clearly has no future at the club. What is the point of these continual loan deals if he isn't given a chance now when we have no wingers showing any form?

As long as Scolari is not willing to give the youngsters a chance, we have no wingers unless we buy one. I'd love to see Sinclair or Stoch get a chance to play, but at the moment I just don't see it happening.

[Maksimov]

*cough* Ben Arfa *cough*

I think there is a medicine to cure that. It sounds nasty. :o :D

The reason I said that we need a proper left winger is because people were talking about buying a striker. We don't NEED a striker as much as we need a winger or two who can beat defenders, pass the ball to the strikers or maybe even score a goal. We really don't have any proper wingers at the moment apart from our youngsters. I'm not sure if Ben Arfa is better than what we have got at the moment(Sinclair, Stoch...). I haven't seen him play this season, though, so that's purely based on what I've seen of the fella when was at Lyon.

[geezer]

If Carlo does go anywhere I think it's much more likely to be West Ham than Spurs. He and Franco were having a long chat together before our recent match though obviously this could have been about anything.

[loz]

If Carlo does go anywhere I think it's much more likely to be West Ham than Spurs. He and Franco were having a long chat together before our recent match though obviously this could have been about anything.

Wrong again Geezer. I didn't spend a year in Italy and learn nothing.

What was said was:

Carlo: See that bitch Posh Spice doesn't like pasta

Franco: Skinny bitch, I wouldn't shag her with your dick

followed by chuckling, in Italian.

[geezer]

Wrong again Geezer. I didn't spend a year in Italy and learn nothing.

What was said was:

Carlo: See that bitch Posh Spice doesn't like pasta

Franco: Skinny bitch, I wouldn't shag her with your dick

followed by chuckling, in Italian.

Phew, that's quite a relief. For Val I mean.

[mad_mac]

Did everyone else miss the "we are the only club who could match his wage demands" when they bring up Owen?!!! What!!! I thought we didn't have the money to buy, and then Owen is still expecting high wages...am I clearly missing something here?

No to Owen, No to Carlo to the f-ing spuds, and no to another defender unless it is a full back if we were to sell Paulo, and Bridge. If we let Alex go, and Ivan the Terrible, then Mancienne and one other would be necessary. But I can't really see us off-loading that many people all at once. They have pretty much listed all of our back 4 (even if they are all back-ups)

Scott

[Valerie]

NO!

Well said. Carlo to the Spuds..... just the thought makes me hate 2009 already.

[Premchat]

I wouldn't sell Alex...I actually think he's one of the better ones in the league

[TheWestwayWonder]

If we let Ivanovic go now, after he has revealed himself to be a defensive stud, we need our heads checked.

If Alex wants to go, and cant be convinced otherwise, I say we let him. Alot of teams out there are in need of good defenders (in Italy and Spain) so we should be able to get a good fee for him. If Madrid want him, they better be prepared to double the next highest offer. And then we should sell him to Barca on principle.

Carlo will never go to Spuds. Ever, imo. A few years ago, this was a guy allegedly wanted by all the big clubs in Italy save Juve, and he still stayed. I seriously doubt he does a Poyet just to work with old 'arry