One Chelsea star is pushing to leave Stamford Bridge this winter permanently, and could cut short his stay at the club before the end of the month with a departure now expected in a move that could force the Blues into the transfer market.
Maresca plays down transfer plans
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca played down his side’s need to dip into the transfer market this window after their 5-0 win over Morecambe in the FA Cup third round, despite a rocky patch of form in the Premier League.
Two points from a possible 12 has seen any slim hopes of challenging for the Premier League title disappear, with the Blues now in a race to secure a spot in the top four as was expected heading into the campaign.
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Chelsea’s next five Premier League games |
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Bournemouth (Home) |
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Wolves (Home) |
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Manchester City (Away) |
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West Ham (Home) |
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Brighton (Away) |
A long-term injury to Wesley Fofana sparked suggestions that they may look to sign another centre-back this January amid links to Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, but Maresca shot those down.
“At this moment I think we are OK. The timing [for Fofana] is between 12 and 16 weeks which is three months and the season could be finished. If he can come back early we will all be happy. [But] we have Benoit who is close to being back, we have Josh who is doing well, Axel and Levi [Colwill] who can all do well in the position”, he told the media.
Much of the transfer activity in west London this month is set to be departures, with the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Ben Chilwell all thought to be free to leave this winter, and the latter having been publicly made avaible by Maresca. Now, they have been joined by another departee.
Chelsea summer signing pushing to leave
As per the reliable Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea’s summer signing Renato Veiga is now “pushing” to leave Stamford Bridge just months after his arrival, with the Portuguese defender wanting to play at centre-back regularly.
Signed from FC Basel for £12m in the summer, Veiga has seen his opportunities limited under Maresca thus far, with the 21-year-old starting just one Premier League game, though he has been an ever-present in the Conference League and played 90 minutes in their recent FA Cup win.
However, Romano reports that Veiga wants to play in central defence, something he is yet to do for the Blues, and as a result he is pushing for a move away from west London this winter.
It is added that Veiga is now “expected” to leave, with Borussia Dortmund said to be among the sides most interested in signing the young talent. Indeed, they have gone as far as to reach a “full agreement” with the player over a contract at the Bundesliga side, but are yet to make an offer to Chelsea.
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For their part, the Blues are reluctant to loan out Veiga, who still has six and a half years left to run on his £25,000 a week deal at Stamford Bridge. Instead, they are holding out for a permanent deal, and demanding €30m euros (£25m) to let him leave, which would represent a massive profit on their initial outlay. With the defender clearly keen to move away, a deal seems very likely in the weeks ahead.