£70m price and "world class replacement" make January timeline impossible for this mega-deal

Today at 11:00 AM

At this stage, Chelsea look far more likely to sell a player than buy one this month.

The rumours about players coming in are thin on the ground and not very convincing. The rumours about players leaving are rife, and in some cases quite persuasive. Chelsea don't NEED to sell – but they are in the business of earning an easy profit when possible.

The main names being mentioned are outcasts like Carney Chukwuemeka or backups like Renato Veiga. But at least one major star is also being mentions as a potential departure.

CaughtOffside are claiming that, as well as Bayern Munich, who have been most strongly linked, two Premier League clubs have also "enquired about Nkunku's status.

It's promising that there's something of a market developing, but it also feels very unlikely that anything can happen in this last week of the window. We would already be picking up serious signals on our transfer radar if anything major was incoming.

£70m price tag makes deal feel impossible for now

Chelsea want the attacker to stay, and would only "reluctantly" let him leave if their £70m price tag for the former RB Leipzig man was wet. We just can't see that happening this month – Bayern are the only ones who might pay it and they've got so many expensive attacking options available to them already.

Unless one of those two Premier League teams interested are very rich and very desperate, it looks like Nkunku will have to hold on at Stamford Bridge until the summer.

Chelsea would also apparently want to line up a "world class" replacement for the Frenchman before sanctioning a move, making it feel even more unlikely. For now, he's going to have to sit tight and wait before the summer when options will certainly open up.