Ducky's Note: Susa takes a look at the potential January transfer dealings of Chelsea

With the recent announcement of Manchester United's 'interest' in Frank Lampard, the transfer rumour mills have surely begun their bi-annual grinding again. While the season so far has exposed clear deficiencies in almost all the teams (except City's 500-man squad), Chelsea have been found surprisingly short in key areas, especially in central defence.

It's been a problem of Chelsea's ever since Jose Mourinho decided to drop Paulo Ferreira from that position back in the day. Think of the names we have had playing there: Geremi, Diarra, Del Horno, Bosingwa and Ivanovic and still no one has put down a marker and made the position their own.
Branislav Ivanovic did to a certain extent but was never truly happy playing there.

Like all responsible pet owners, we left our snark in the office over New Year. We ensured it had adequate food, water and celebrity list programmes to see it through the night, with the TV turned up loud to avoid firework-related outbursts.

We were concerned that it might be sulking today and therefore refuse to contribute to the first results post of 2012, but you'll be relieved to see it's in fine form and frolicking around our captions like nothing had even happened.

I think right now as a Chelsea fan we want two things from today. First and foremost we want and desperately need three points and secondly, a performance would be nice!.
No one would have imagined that we would find ourselves in the position we are in at the moment and no one would have predicted the result on Saturday against Aston Villa.

So here we go with the madness that happens every year around the Christmas and New Year period with games coming thick and fast. After a good point at White Hart Lane, Chelsea have a chance to grab six points in the next few days against Villa on Saturday and Fulham today.
This afternoon is our second London derby in the space of four days and will be just as difficult as Spurs was.

I asked you people earlier today who you think should play tomorrow. In the side I selected (Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Romeu, Meireles, Ramires, Mata, Torres and Sturridge) you will see I indicated that Luiz would play and Ivanovic would move to right back.
Well, this afternoon AVB has confirmed that David Luiz will miss the game through injury which leaves us with a problem!

Over the weekend we heard AVB confirm that Alex and Nico Anelka have both submitted transfer requests to the club that have been accepted and they are now training away from the first team squad until a move has been completed.
Yesterday however, news broke all over the media that Chelsea and AVB are also willing to listen to offers for a further FOUR more players in January!

By Chris Wright

Photo- and video-bombing the bejesus each other is a tradition that is taken very seriously down Chelsea way (see here and here for details) and with the cameras knocking around at Cobham for the club's official team photo shoot, serial offenders David Luiz, Paulo Ferreira and Branoslav Ivanovic just couldn't help themselves.

Is the pursuit of Luka Modric finally over? Reply hazy, try again later.

I initially loved the idea of adding the Croatian to our midfield during the close season. That idea soured as the summer continued. Missing out on Modric at £40 or so million was proper business for Chelsea.

Hope everyone has enjoyed a festive Labor Day. News on the Chelsea front continues to be slow during this international break, but we do have footage of newest signing Raul Meireles taking part in his first training session. Check it out below.

Pay special attention to the pleasantries at 21 seconds.

By WAG Watcher

Okay, so she's not technically a WAG as such, but we couldn't help but notice that a rather attractive, pouty, olive-skinned beauty keeps on cropping up on Chelsea's bench (not Paulo Ferreira) this season and, as such, we felt obliged to do some 'research' (Google > Image Search > 'Hot Chelsea physio').

Yes, £120m this calendar year on six players and it seems that Chelsea still have every intention on spending more as Roman Abramovich started it, but AVB will take on the blue revolution at the Bridge.
Luiz, Torres, Courtious, Lukaku, Romeu and Mata are the names we have brought to the club and with rumours rife that we are in for Pereira of Porto and a central midfielder, that figure will rise to well over £150m.

What makes a great defender for your fantasy soccer team? He of course has to play in a winning team. He of course has to play often and whole games. If he scores a goal or gives an assist now and then that is a big plus. Of course we wouldnt mind if his price wouldnt be too much either.
So who are these denfenders.

Thank the football gods, for preseason is over and the Premier League season is finally upon us.

Seven wins out of seven in preseason, one goal conceded, Sturridge our top scorer. New manager, new assistant. What did we learn? Here are a few of my thoughts and observations feel free to add your own.

Singing the Blues Not content with buying Fernando Torres, Chelsea have set about stealing another Liverpool legend by forming their own version of The Beatles. Fronted by the Blues' club chef, the Fab Five also features Didier Drogba on tambourine, Paulo Ferreira on percussion, Petr Cech on drums and Florent Malouda on bongos.

Ronaldinho's goal against Chelsea during Barcelona's 2005 Last 16 Champions League knockout clash was amongst the best goals ever the history of the competition, leaving onlookers in stunned awe.

Did you see it? Did you catch it first time? Did you blink? The answer to each question is, in respective order; yes (but I needed to see it again), no (it was that good), and yes, I blinked several times!

The impostor is a runaway choice in this season's most unwanted award category. Sorry guy, but you were shit. Give us back our Bison.

Readers' passenger of the season voting results (2010-11)
Total votes: 139
Michael Essien 56 votes (40.

If media reports are to be believed and I do have to state at this stage, it is only speculation, it seems Roman Abramovich has drawn up a list of five players he wants to recruit this summer.
The five players in question are: Neymar (Forward 19), Romelu Lukaku (Striker 18), Kevin de Bruyne (Left Winger 19), Gregory van der Wiel (Right back 23) and a backup goalkeeper (your guess is as good as mine).

We can only imagine what it's like for the Chelsea players after training. It's a time to wind down and relax and prepare for the next game. To take things easy. However, in the case of David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Nico Anelka and Paulo Ferreira, they decided to take on a game of Space Invaders. Have a look below:
KTBFFH
Check out my blog posts on the Official Chelsea Website - http://bit.

By Chris Wright

In which Chelsea mob Nicolas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira and David Luiz partake in a huge game of footballing Space Invaders during the middle of the night in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Battersea.

Why? Lord alone knows, though sponsors 188BET did vow to donate the £1,500 prize money to the eventual winner's charity of choice.

Epic.

David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira and Nicolas Anelka keep a bunch of aliens at bay.

At least one Chelsea player has a trophy this season! Now we know why Chelsea's title challenge was doomed the squad were busy trying to beat their top score in this giant footballing version of Space Invaders. David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira and Nicolas Anelka all took on a game of 'Alien Invaders'.

A whole host of clubs are being linked with Gregory van der Wiel after he featured in last summers World Cup. The 23 year old has been the subject of speculation throughout the course of the season but it appears that one of the clubs that had been believed to have taken a major interest, Bayern Munich, have now decided against making a move to sign the player for a reported £9m.

Second place, eh? Righteous.

Isn't this just like Chelsea?

Send us all into the blue funk following another listless exit from Champions League. Then, you know, go out and make things interesting real interesting by climbing into second place in the league.

It's been a great couple of nights for Chelsea with United and Arsenal both dropping points with us winning tonight. The three points sees Chelsea move into second in the Premier League on goal difference from Arsenal, both of us six points behind the leaders. I called for a good performance and to make the game in hand count and Chelsea did exactly that.

Carlo Ancelotti is making headlines this morning after his pre match press conference ahead of Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge tonight because of one thing in particular and that's his comment made of the squad he was left with this season.
Of course as you can imagine with the focus of the questions about his future Carlo has explained that we haven't had the best of seasons because we never had players of enough quality to cover when we had our mid-season crisis.

Revenge is at hand.

Who: Birmingham City
What: Premier League, Round 34
When: 19 April, 8pm local time (3pm EST)
Where: Stamford Bridge (42,449)
How: Fox Soccer Channel (DirecTV 619, Dish 149)

Why: Because, quite frankly, we should've battered them back in November.

"The rage burning inside Didier Drogba as he was ushered down the tunnel by Paulo Ferreira suggested that this was no warm-up for the main event at Stamford Bridge in two days' time. This was a match that Chelsea badly needed to win and as they strove to haul themselves past a resilient and resourceful Stoke side, one of their fans suggested that Drogba should have put the ball into the box.

Loyal servant Paulo Ferreira has spoken of the fact he remains happy at Chelsea and would be willing to finish his career at our club before returning to his native Portugal.
He said:

"I have been seven years here at Chelsea and it is the club where I have spent most time.

You'll forgive me for the tardiness of this recap, but I needed a 24-hour reprieve from all things Chelsea to clear my head. This was as hard a loss to swallow as we've endured this campaign. If you could have predicted this outcome, then you'd probably be a rich man right now- or a Liverpool fan.

You'll forgive me for the tardiness of this recap, but I needed a 24-hour reprieve from all things Chelsea to clear my head. This was as hard a loss to swallow as we've endured this campaign. If you could have predicted this outcome, then you'd probably be a rich man right now- or a Liverpool fan.

The 4th Round replay of Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge needed penalties to decide the outcome, with the Merseyside club pulling out the upset. I chose to cover this match because Chelsea had a dilemma; they have a midweek Champions League match at Copenhagen. How much would Chelsea play their first team?

Not fit. Thank God.

Who: Everton
What: FA Cup, fourth round replay
When: 19 February, 12:30pm local time (7:30am EST)
Where: Stamford Bridge (41,841)
How: Fox Soccer Channel (DirecTV 619, Dish 149)

Why: Because, as I've said in recent weeks, this competition may well represent our best (our only?

YouTube is littered with overdramatic Liverpudlian tributes to Torres. To add to the buildup for today's Chelsea-Liverpool match (kicking off at Stamford Bridge at the top of the hour), here's one that is a highlight reel of El Niño when he was at the top of his game, in 2008-09 primarily Liverpool highlights, followed by a coda of Spain national team clips (set to an Akon soundtrack):

Meanwhile, the teams are in, according to the Guardian's liveblog:

The teams are in:

The Team With Torres: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Mikel; Essien, Lampard; Torres, Drogba, Anelka.

With news the other day that representatives from Benfica had travelled to London over the course of the weekend to negotiate a deal for David Luiz with Chelsea, it now seems as deal has been agreed and the player is due in London for a medical with the club within the next couple of days.
I posted up a video of the player and I think anyone who saw it was impressed with the players ability.

No espaço de poucos meses, Tiago é o quarto jogador que abdicou de representar a selecção nacional de futebol. Depois de Paulo Ferreira, Miguel e Simão, o jogador do Atlético de Madrid alega «razões pessoais» para deixar de estar disponível para jogar pelo seu país. Aos 29 anos, depois de três golos e 58 internacionalizações pela Selecção A, e longe de ter sido um titular indiscutível desde que foi chamado pela primeira vez, o futebolista natural de Viana do Castelo tomou esta decisão que não pode deixar de ser questionável.

After speculation started since back in the Summer, it's seems that Benfica could be about to sell David Luiz to Chelsea for around £20-£25m in the coming weeks.
As we all know Chelsea had a bid rejected for the Brazilian back in the summer as Benfica refused to do any kind of business with us unless we met the £43m release clause inserted into his contract which is my opinion, was never going to be met by Chelsea or anyone.

In the Daily Mail is the continued rumours that involve Chelsea's reported interest in Benfica's Brazilian Defender, David Luiz. We all know that Chelsea offered Benfica some money deemed unacceptable by the Portuguese side, but it's believed that Chelsea are still in the hunt for the player.
Now, if reports are to believed, Chelsea are prepared to offer around £21m for the player and in addition Chelsea right back Paulo Ferreira who is valued at around £4m, taking the total fee to be around £25m.

Reports broke yesterday that AC Milan have made their interest in our Portuguese right back Jose Bosingwa known and with just six month remaining on his contract, Chelsea could be willing to let him go now rather than lose him on a free when it runs out in the summer.
For me it's a no brainer really, Chelsea should have to cash in.