CHELSEA have reportedly met with the agent of Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele with a view to signing him in January.
The Blues are buzzing after learning that their appeal against a transfer ban had been successful.
Ousmane Dembele is once again being linked with a move away from Barcelona – and now Chelsea have moved inCredit: Rex Features
They are now free to bring players in when the transfer window re-opens in January.
And Dembele, who has had a mixed time of things since joining Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for £138million, is believed to be on Chelsea’s shopping list.
Spanish news-site Eldesmarque is reporting that Dembele’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, has “met with excutives from Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City”.
This has not gone down well with Barca, who are now keen to ship him out at the end of the season.
But with Chelsea now cleared to loosen the purse strings after Christmas, they could move in for a cut-price deal for the Frenchman.
And it won’t be the only player linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
How Chelsea could line-up after splashing £150m in January
SunSport has reported that the Blues will have at least £150million to spend in January after their transfer ban was lifted.
And fans are predicting another era of Blues dominance.
New boss Lampard has embraced the transfer ban though and given long runs to the likes of Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham – all of whom have thrived and even earned themselves England caps.
But just as football fans began to appreciate Chelsea’s newfound strategy, Blues supporters are revelling in the thought of “ruining football” once more by dominating the top flight.
One fan wrote: “Chelsea’s ban officially reduced. Lets ruin football again.”
Another said: “Chelsea football club coming to ruin football again with Roman splashing the cash and I’m here for it.”
A third added: “Hahaha here we go everybody, Chelsea Football Club are back and ready to take over again.”
Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho, Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha and Bournemouth hot-shot Callum Wilson are all being linked with with a move to the Blues.
ONLY £150MILLION, ROMAN?
CHELSEA are set to spend around £150million in January having been unable to bring in any new players in the summer while under a transfer ban.
Now their embargo has been lifted, Roman Abramovich is set to hand Frank Lampard a monster winter budget.
But is £150m really that much?
After all, last season the Blues raked in £142.6m from prize money, TV income and league matches, amongst other factors.
Should they managed to qualify for next season’s Champions League that could see a windfall of around £100m.
Chelsea also made up to £150m from selling Eden Hazard to Real Madrid – with £88m up front and the rest coming in add-ons.
During the summer window – with the West Londoners spending absolutely nothing – the rest of the league averaged a spend of around £67m apiece. Aston Villa spent £146m over the summer.
So is £150m really that much to make up for missing a summer window as well as the usual winter spending? Only time will tell…
Chelsea win appeal against transfer ban with Lampard set for huge January spending spree after CAS overrule Fifa
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
