Zola kinda blue

yep! Last night Newcastle United striker Demba Ba’s representatives travelled to London for talks with Chelsea in a bid to secure a move to Stamford Bridge for the Senegal International. This morning’s papers are full of information suggesting the move is on and the striker will at the club by the end of the transfer window. Whilst some reports suggest that the 27 year old is on his way to Chelsea for a scan, Sky Sports are reporting that talks last night were unproductive with Chelsea not prepared to pay what Ba is asking for. Chelsea were prepared to double his money by offering £80,000 a week, but his agents are alleged to have pushed for more. Therefore unless he is prepared to budge on his wage demands the deal could be off. They go further to suggest the door is now open for other clubs as they prepare to extend their options.

Mirror says we are after him and Paulinho

In other news, Joe Cole is signing for QPR, could play on Wednesday

@Sky_PhilForster: Been informed by sources very close to #cfc that Demba Ba having a scan tomorrow #nufcCan he will probably fail it. But we will buy anyway

Imagine what Chelsea will be like when we sign Ba and go back to playing with 11 men!

Plus 2 million agent fee. worth a punt

SSN Demba Ba to meet with Chelsea representatives tonight.

I think thats a bit unfair, look at the goal where beat 3 men, went to ground got up and chipped the keeper. Pure class and skill that. Not pace or space. Every player goes missing in games, even Mata, but he looks like he has gone on a level. He's young, british, proven EPL and would be relatively cheap. I reckon Chelsea could get him if we showed him the money. Lets face it , he will know he's more likely to win things with us and be well paid Worth a punt I reckon

Looks like Ba is coming the telegraph are saying we lead the race to sign him http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...dow-opens.html Chelsea lead race to sign £7m Ba as transfer window opens Chelsea have emerged as the favourites to sign Demba Ba for £7m once the January transfer window opens. Newcastle United are still hoping that Ba will renegotiate the £7m release clause in his contract — although manager Alan Pardew has finally admitted that the 27-year-old will be sold if a new deal is not struck. Marseille’s Loic Remy has been lined up as an £11.5m replacement at Newcastle. Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal also remain interested in buying Ba but Chelsea are determined to add to their strike-force in January. Ba scored twice for Newcastle in an extraordiary game against Arsenal last night which finished 4-3 to Arsenal. Chelsea have continued to explore the possibility of signing Radomel Falcao for £48m — the value of his release clause — but he has insisted he will remain at Atletico Madrid until the summer when Chelsea will have to fight off competition from Real Madrid and Manchester City. Chelsea, who have told Frank Lampard he is free to leave, also remain interested in Bayer Leverkusen’s Andre Schurrle and have also held talks over signing Real’s Gonzalo Higuain but, again, that deal is complicated while the terms to acquire Ba are simple: £7m to release him from his contract, for which he receives £2.5m, plus around £2m in fees to his agent and wages of £70,000-a-week for the striker. Ba would struggle to pass a medical, because of his chronic knee problems, but they have not prevented him from playing and scoring regularly for Newcastle — he now has 13 Premier League goals this season in a team which has been struggling. His acquisition would also relieve the burden on Fernando Torres while, at the same time, not putting too much pressure on the striker because Ba would not constitute a big-name signing. Chelsea would also recoup the outlay on a proven goal-scorer because they are selling Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool for £12m. Arsene Wenger appeared to rule out a move for Ba in January but that public statement probably had much to do with the fact that Arsenal played Newcastle United last night. He remains interested. Spurs also registered their interest. They have explored the possibility of signing Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente but have been told he will move elsewhere. Chelsea are being offered a number of players including Seville’s Alvaro Negredo who is understood to be available for £16m. Chelsea hope to also push ahead with the signing of Metalist Kharkiv’s attacking midfielder Taison for up to £10m although there are concerns as to whether the 24-year-old Brazilian will be granted a work permit. Wenger says walcott not leaving this window whatever happens

I'd like him and Negredo just so we can hear "pass me the ball, Negredo" Together with JT, we would have some team then!

Cadena COPE is reporting that Chelsea and Sevilla have started negotiations regarding Álvaro Negredo. Sevilla have got economical problems and their president, Del Nido said a while ago that they'll most likely be forced to sell in January. http://www.cope.es/d...de-Negredo.html

Luiz has shown we lack a deep lying playmaker, someone who can do good long passes. I'd like to us recall De Bruyne as he has already done a good few assists and goals. Mikel offers us nothing going forward, fed with watching his wild shots, seriously how can you be a professional footballer and not hit the target?

It would be madness to sign Falcao and I cant see Chelsea doing it. All our eggs in one basket again, a midfield that needs a top up? I just cant see it. We lost a serious amount of cash going out of the CL. So we will recall Lukaku, buy Pjanic for the money we get for him and maybe recall another player or get a loaner. Rumour is Chelsea are reluctanant to spend much especially with Rafa in charge and we spent heavily in ther summer. Plus Rafa has torres scoring 6 goals in 5 Would love Lewandoski or Cavani, both have more to their game than Falcao. Cavani would cost almost as much him and wont be sold this window anyway

Pjanic please - 12 million thank you

Danny story is on the BBC website now, so that looks close to happening! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20783179 Lets also not forget, that he takes an English spot in our otherwise small squad as it is. So, unless we do have someone lined up pretty quick, we are left with Torres who everyone is pretty much fed up with! So, come Jan 1st, we will have 1 striker, and 2 proper midfielders (ramires and lamps, not counting the kids or Oscar etc) New arrivals need time to settle in as well Plan much?!

I dont really see where he has hinted this at all, but hey! Chelsea interim boss Rafa Benitez has indicated that the club may look to sign a defensive midfielder during the January transfer window. The Blues were dealt a blow this week when Spanish midfielder Oriol Romeu was ruled out for six months, requiring the lengthy lay off after knee surgery. The situation has been compounded with John Obi Mikel’s departure to the 2013 African Cup Of Nations imminent. While Chelsea have a burgeoning number of attacking options in midfield, a player capable of effectively operating in the engine room of Chelsea’s midfield is lacking, and Benitez has hinted he may have to consider bringing in a player capable of fighting and retaining the ball when Chelsea concede possession. "You need to know the players and find the balance,” Benitez was quoted as saying in The Times. If you have too many players with quality - these players we were talking about, all dynamic but cannot regain the ball - you do not have the balance. "If you give the ball away, you have to regain [it]." Chelsea have been persistently linked with Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, who has reportedly been a target for the club since the summer months, However, the Corinthians destroyer has previously expressed his reluctance to leave his home nation. Newcastle Cheick Tiote has also been mentioned as a possible target for the midfield role at Stamford Bridge.

CarloFan Liverpool are reportedly close to finalising a £12m deal for Daniel Sturridge. (Daily Mail) #CFC If he does go, I hope we get 2 replacements in, cos it would be just like us to get one in and then he gets injured, so Torres plays al the time again!

the one true heir to the mighty Drogba!

Rafa reckons there could be incomings - cheeky bid for Gerrard?! Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez has met with the board to discuss January transfer plans. There has been speculation that Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole could be leaving the club next month but discussions were more about players to bring into the club. “We didn’t talk about any players going,” he said. “The board were asking me about players coming but not about any players leaving.” http://www.london24....sfers_1_1727799

thats funny it was city last month! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2225273/Manchester-City-want-Connor-Hunte-Chelsea.html

We have plenty of good players that can beat the likes of Fulham. We just keep changing manager too often and lack a leader on the field and a manager who knows how to get the best tactically out of the players we have. maybe Rafa will prove he can do this, but since Mourinho left, we have had no one remotely like him

Jozy Altidore anyone? (from we aint got no history) Many Chelsea fans seem to believe that there is only one option out there to fix our striker situation in the January window, but the Chelsea scouting staff still seem to be looking around. Sky Sports is reporting a new potential target that we've been watching...United States striker Jozy Altidore. Altidore has had a realtively unsuccessful loan spell in England before, struggling at the age of 19 when he joined Hull City. He's been very impressive over the last two seasons for AZ Alkmaar though, and Earnest Stewart confirms that Chelsea scouts have been in attendance to watch the 23 year old this season: "However, I won't say whether interest will increase during the winter break or at the end of the season. Jozy is developing fantastically, is a real target man for the team and translates that into goals." "Something like that isn't missed abroad. Also this season scouts from big clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have visited AZ games." Altidore would clearly not be as high profile a signing as Falcao, but he's still been a solid player that's been improving steadily over the past several years. He's got a good great set of physical tools, and he's the type of physically aggressive player that the club just doesn't have at the moment. He'd be an interesting option as a cheap backup, and he'd probably make it even more likely that American stations broadcast Chelsea games live. The January window is still several weeks away, but being linked to more strikers is never a bad thing. After all, it's not that hard to upgrade Fernando Torres.

If we are out of the top 4 come Jan, he might change his mind. Even Pep wants CL footy!

If we couldnt even get a backup striker in the summer transfer window, I seriously doubt we will get any main striker in Jan and if we do, we will overpay horribly

Put Feruz into the first team or play Oscar up front!