Transfer Talk - Out the Door

Transfer expert Dan McCarthy shares his thoughts on who will be potentially heading out the Cobham exit door this window

A January transfer window update for you, specifically looking at the potential outgoings from Chelsea Football Club this month.

Below, you will find updates on the regularly discussed players, concluding with a move likeliness rating out of ten, which people enjoyed last time out.

Fikayo Tomori (#14, Centre Back, England)

No need to paint the back story on this one. Fikayo has found himself out of favour in recent months under Frank Lampard and is often the subject of much discussion amongst Chelsea fans whether he should be playing or not, and subsequently when he doesn’t play, whether he should leave or not.

If you asked all the legitimate sources connected to the club in the past few weeks whether Fikayo would leave this window, most if not all would have said yes.

However, a potential spanner in the works has now arisen, Andreas Christensen’s knee injury against Aston Villa.

Tomori hasn’t featured since Spurs away in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on September 29th, 2020. Chelsea currently has five first-team centre backs and planned to allow one to leave.

However, with a severe injury to Christensen, Tomori’s ability to leave may be scuppered for now. Tomori has reportedly been “average” in training in the past few weeks and has openly shared his desire to leave the club, permanently or on loan.

Chelsea would only let Fikayo go on a loan deal, with interest in the player registered especially in England and France.

As of now, this will depend on the Christensen injury where Tomori will ply his trade for the second half of the season.

It will also depend on whether there is an acceptable offer submitted for the next player mentioned, as Chelsea would rather keep Tomori than Antonio Rudiger.

Likeliness to leave this window - 7/10

Antonio Rudiger (#2, Center Back, Germany)

Similar to Tomori, Rudiger has found himself somewhat frozen out of Chelsea’s starting eleven since the start of the season, albeit playing more than the aforementioned.

Antonio has been vocal about not “accepting” a predominant bench role at this time in his career, and ideally would want to be a first choice centre-back at a club.

Despite responding well to being dropped; after a good chat with Lampard on this, not much has changed in Rudiger’s playing time, and both parties are of the agreeance that if a good financial offer came in for the player, he would be free to leave.

Interest has been registered in Rudiger from England, France, and of course, Germany.

However, the issue is Chelsea have found it difficult to find suitors who are able to match Rudiger’s transfer price and his wages, especially in the current climate.

A loan isn’t ideal for any party, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2020. As mentioned above, it’s a race between Rudiger and Tomori to see who can find their way out of SW6 first.

One of the two will leave, however, with the nature of what deal would need to be struck to allow Rudiger to leave, I believe it is more likely we will see Rudiger hang around until the summer.

Likeliness to leave this window - 5/10

Jorginho (#5, Center Midfielder, Italy)

A player who divides the fanbase like no other. Sarri’s central soldier, a regista named by many; I suspect many would want to see the back of Jorginho sooner rather than later, however, will this materialise in January?

It is common knowledge now that Chelsea tried to move the player on this past summer. There was slight interest from Arsenal, and introductory talks with clubs in Italy, but nothing concrete enough for Chelsea to get excited about.

Similar to Antonio Rudiger above, Chelsea are reliant on finding a club who can afford to buy Jorginho and pay his wages, as a loan deal simply isn’t ideal for anyone.

Another issue is Jorginho’s market isn’t as large as others, due to the fact he is a specialist player who only fits a number of systems and manager preferences.

Jorginho is a well-liked character within the squad and has maintained professional in his efforts despite not playing as much as desired. Whilst we know Jorginho’s days are evidently numbered in West London, this situation isn’t as delicate as perhaps the above players, due to reasons I just mentioned here.

What I will say is, this player is directly related to a pursuit of another player, I am sure you can guess who…

Likeliness to leave this window - 4/10

Other players heading towards the exit door…

Lucas Piazon (Midfielder) - Recently returned from a terminated loan at Rio Ave. As reported by Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella), a sale is imminent for the player, with three clubs interested in signing him.

Piazon has only has six months left on his current contract, but Chelsea have an option to extend this deal by an extra year. Nevertheless, all parties would welcome a permanent move sooner rather than later.

Likeliness to leave this window - 9/10

Willy Caballero (Goalkeeper) - As discussed on our podcast yesterday (time of recording), we have been told that Willy Cabellero would welcome a move away from Chelsea in pursuit of first-team football.

This move would depend on if Chelsea could find a suitor to send Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan this window, which is somewhat unlikely due to his current wages.

Chelsea are happy to let one of the two go, with Petr Cech and youth prospects able to fill the role of the third-choice goalkeeper. I will continue to ask questions on this and get further updates soon.

Likeliness to leave this window - 5/10

Danny Drinkwater (Midfielder) - The forgotten man in Chelsea’s squad. A lot of rumours surrounding the English midfielder on where he will find himself next, with recent reports linking him to Turkey.

However, as understood by sources closer to this, Drinkwater is not any closer to completing a move away from the club as of now. Similarly to Jorginho, his days at Chelsea Football Club are numbered. Nevertheless, the agent and player are taking their time to mull their options and find the best fit for Drinkwater’s next move.

Likeliness to leave this window - 6/10

Players who will remain with Chelsea in January:

Olivier Giroud (#18, Center Forward, France) - Our lord and saviour an abundance of times in the past 2-3 years, it has now been confirmed that Olivier Giroud will be staying in London until at least the summer of 2021, when his current contract will expire.

There have been rumours since last summer that Giroud could leave in pursuit of consistent first-team football, especially with eyes on the French squad for the European Championships (in addition to Didier Deschamps recent comments on his playing time).

However, despite this and recent rumours linking him with Inter Milan and Juventus, Olivier has decided to remain in London to fight for his place as the number one striker at Chelsea.

Billy Gilmour (#44, Center Midfielder, Scotland) - Billy G, the Chelsea fan from Irvine, Scotland is here to stay.

After a long injury lay off, coming unfortunately at a time where Billy was beginning to establish himself firmly in the first team picture, rumours began to circulate Lampard would look to loan Billy out for the second half of this season.

These rumours cantered from the fact Billy would want further playing time, whilst being open to his desire to break into the Scotland squad for the upcoming European Championships.

When I checked in on this, I was told confidently this wouldn’t be the case, and that Gilmour would remain in Chelsea’s plans this season, and would feature more regularly in Lampard’s plans as he recovers further.

Other names to watch out for this window - Marcos Alonso, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Abdul Rahman Baba and Declan Rice.