Benzema signs, Gallagher deal, Diomande plan – What Chelsea must do in January transfer window

A look at what Chelsea should do in the latter stages of the 2024 January transfer window with the west Londoners yet to make a move in terms of incomings this month

Even though Todd Boehly paid over £1 billion to purchase Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in May 2022, it seems like they are still a few players away from elevating the team to a higher level. As the January transfer window draws to a close, the Blues have not yet signed a player.

Due to Everton and Nottingham Forest’s potential violations of the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), transfer activity involving Premier League clubs has been extremely quiet this month. Everton and Forest were both charged anew after receiving a 10-point deduction previously.

Both teams are worried that they might lose points even though the penalty has not yet been disclosed. The Premier League as a whole is now on high alert, and several clubs are being extremely frugal this month with their player acquisition budgets.

Chelsea’s January transfer window has been unusually quiet; the team has approved a couple loan departures but has not yet added a new player to Mauricio Pochettino’s roster. Chelsea has less than ten days left before the transfer window closes, so while the Blues have been searching the transfer market to see what they can do this month, time is running out for Chelsea.

The team is still looking at both Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney as potential strikers. Both, though, would be very costly.Osimhen’s price tag is expected to exceed £100 million, and Brentford has placed a £100 million price tag on Toney.

Signing one of them this month also looks improbable. Chelsea is anticipated to review both of these scenarios during the summer transfer season, when transactions are much simpler for a variety of reasons.

Having said that, football.london is aware that Chelsea has a workable short-term solution. Over the past week or two, Karim Benzema has been heavily linked to a return to Europe, with rumors indicating he is dissatisfied with his situation in the Saudi Pro League.

After spending 14 years at Real Madrid, the 36-year-old striker left Real Madrid in the summer transfer window and signed with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, there are rumors that Benzema wants to play out the remainder of his career in Europe, with Chelsea and Arsenal among the teams suggested as potential destinations.

Because of Benzema’s enormous salary, Chelsea may find it best to pursue a six-month loan agreement in which Al-Ittihad pays a significant percentage of Benzema’s salary. Benzema, who has scored well over 350 goals in his professional career, is a devastating presence in the box and may offer Chelsea a temporary fix to some of their attacking positional issues until they can look again in the summer.

The center of defense is the other position Chelsea has on the schedule. Trevoh Chalobah, a 24-year-old defender, has been informed that he is free to leave the team this month if the suitable offer is made.

Chalobah hasn’t featured for Chelsea this season due to injury, although he was on the verge of joining Bayern Munich during the summer transfer window. The Cobham alumnus can be sold for a tidy sum due to his previous academy standing with the team. The most recent team to express interest in Chalobah is Fulham.

The 39-year-old Thiago Silva’s current contract with the team expires at the end of the current campaign, and negotiations to extend it have not yet begun. Chelsea has to sign a center back, and this season they have been searching all around Europe for the ideal player.

Although a deal for the Sporting CP center back is probably going to happen in the summer, Ousmane Diomande is a legitimate alternative for the Blues. The 20-year-old’s contract at Estadio Jose Alvalade has a £69 million release clause, which Sporting has stated must be activated if a team wishes to sign him in January.

Naturally, Chelsea is hesitant to pay such a sum, especially in light of the current PSR situation. Because Chelsea will have more time to convince Sporting to lower their asking price and the Portuguese team will have more time to find a replacement for their outstanding defense, a summer transfer looks more likely.

Conor Gallagher’s future is still uncertain in terms of outgoings. The England international is of interest to Tottenham, although the North Londoners have not yet begun negotiations with the Blues on a potential signing of the midfield player.

As has been well known, Pochettino wants to keep Gallagher, and the player would prefer to stay at Stamford Bridge past the conclusion of the window. But if the club were to sell Gallagher after he graduated from the academy, it would be pure profit—just like with Chalobah.

Chelsea might find it financially advantageous to cash in on Gallagher right away in order to further adhere to the PSR. Although the 23-year-old midfielder has been the Blues’ most reliable player in his position since Pochettino took over last summer, there aren’t many football-related reasons to sell him.

There are barely over ten days left, and the silence is unsettling. That won’t remain unchanged, for sure. I’m sure Chelsea will take some action.