In our last poll, we asked whether the club needed to sign a striker, winger, attacking midfielder, or holding midfielder in the transfer window to shore up one of the areas of weakness that had become apparent over the course of the 2011-12 season. An overwhelming majority of nearly 70% said that what the club needed more than anything was a striker, while 17% said winger, 8% said attacking midfielder, and only 5% said holding midfielder.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

It is a wild day across England, with the rapid-fire closing of the transfer window being accompanied by a full slate of mid-week matches. While the transfer window doesn't figure to include any more Americans making moves to England, there could be some notable performances by U.

Ah hell. Not this shit again.

Oh joy. We've reached that special day of days in which insanity and panic trumps all. Well, you know, perhaps it's money that trumps all. Yeah, it's the cake.

This is January transfer deadline day. A war amongst men. Not really, but you know what I'm getting at.

Now we're going after another kid? Lord knows what you're doing Andre. Lord knows. More, after the jump:

Trick love tha kids

Right. His name is Patrick Bamford. He's 18 years old, and at present, logged a whopping 12 career minutes for the first team at Nottingham Forest.

Multiple outlets are carrying the story that Genk starlet Kevin De Bruyne is at Cobham undergoing his medical ahead of a 9 million quid transfer to the famous CFC. More, after the jump:

London calling

You already know the drill. KdB will come to Chelsea this summer, after finalizing paperwork tomorrow which sets his price and contract in place.

With Liverpool set to face Wolves on transfer deadline day, there was always some worry on our end as to how we'd manage to fit in both match coverage and any last-minute transfer insanity. Turns out that the club and Kenny Dalglish were fully sympathetic to our concerns, as today the official site put out a brief statement from Dalglish that under no circumstance will any new senior players be brought in before midnight in Paris on Tuesday.

Eden Hazard, one of the most desirable transfer targets in world football at the moment, says he is not moving this January. Definitively. Moving this coming summer, however? That's on fo sho. To England? Why yes, actually.

Excuse me while I shit my pants with potential excitement.

Seeking a new challenge in the summer

Hazard spoke to Canal+ today and shed some light on his current situation.

Sportsmail strikes again. Though we may have to start giving the masked man/woman/thing a little more credit on the back of breaking the Willian negotiations last week. This time around, the Daily Mail's journo in the field, with a little help from the Mirror, suggests Chelsea are ready to make key moves for both Paul Pogba and Gregory van der Wiel.

Buy Belgian. Ho.

We talked yesterday about the club allegedly reentering talks with Racing Genk over the transfer of the young Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne. Those talks (gasp) are actually true.

This according to a spokesman for Genk:

Dirk Degraen is in London and the expectation is that it (the transfer of De Bruyne) will be finished this week.

Not entirely sure about the source material, but Chelsea have allegedly re-engaged in talks with Racing Genk over the transfer of the 20-year-old that looks not a day over 12 Kevin De Bruyne.

Young Money

As you may recall, the club inquired about De Bruyne in the summer.

Queens Park Rangers apparently can't afford Alex. Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, certainly can. I guess that solves that then, in my skewed mind at least.

A reunion?

The protracted transfer of Alex away from Chelsea drags on.

News today arrives in two parts.

I initially filed this one under bullshit in my immensely well-organized mental filing cabinet. It was first reported in the Daily Mail after all. That bummy rag may have been on to something, though. In fact, they were probably dead-on.

Sincerest apologies, Mail.

Nicolas Anelka is swimming in dough on the shores of Shanghai. Will Didier Drogba be joining him before the end of the January transfer window?

Quite possibly, if you ask the Shenhua PR department.

Chinese connection?

As you know, Drogba has rejected a one-year contract extension from Chelsea in search of at least a two-year deal.

Today has been an exciting day to be a Portland Timbers fan. First, earlier this morning, we received confirmation that Colombian central defender Hanyer Mosquera has joined the squad. As a big center back with experience he'll be invaluable in helping the Timbers shore up some of those defensive gaffes that were far too prevalent last season.

All because Liverpool hasn't made a move yet in the transfer market doesn't mean that people aren't saying they're about to. So join us for the latest fun-like substance as we run down the latest collection of names being linked into—and out of—the club as the end of the January window edges into sight.

A fair few media outlets are reporting that, after a prolonged spell of negotiations, Gary Cahill and Chelsea have finally agreed to the framework of a deal and the Bolton defender is currently on his way to London to finalize this thing. Yeah, I'm still not that jazzed about this one.

A sign of things to come?

It's safe to say Alex has not enjoyed the new year thus far. After Andre Villas-Boas kicked the bold, bald Brazilian to the Cobham curb earlier in the winter, he was left to fend for himself on just £50k per week. Just really, really terrible.

Thankfully for Alex, the nightmare looks to be coming to an end.

There's some news you might be interested in. Might. More, after the jump:

Back to France

Dijon have confirmed that, after a protracted series of negotiations, Gael Kakuta will be joining the club for the remainder of the campaign. Over the last ten days, Chelsea have been engaged in a series of loan discussions with both Dijon and Olympiakos.

Word has begun circulating that Chelsea are expected to close the signing of Gary Cahill in the next 48 hours. More, after the jump:

English Recruits

So, this one looks like it'll finally be finished. The worst-kept secret of the winter is coming to its final hours, after an apparent break-through in negotiations took place Sunday evening, during which Chelsea representatives were able to reach a consensus with Cahill's agent.

Last summer, Liverpool rather famously spent big on players who created chances. To many, they paid far too much for far too little and the results haven't lived up to the expenditure, but regardless of whether one agreed with the approach at least there was a clearly identifiable approach: Find the Premier League players who created the most scoring opportunities and then start throwing money in their general direction.

Creative midfielders. We've talked about the need for one at Chelsea at length over the past several months. Napoli's Marek Hamsik definitely fits the mold of what we should be looking at. Plus, he's got the hair. That shit is seriously epic in either a good or hilariously bad way depending on your take.

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 looks like we have a player signing before the draft after all. Colombian international and apparently now former Millonarios player Rafael Robayo announced over Twitter today:

Gracias DIOS por esta linda oportunidad de jugar en la MLS y muchas gracias al Chicago Fire por haberse interesado en mi como refuerzo

Robayo had also used the social network last week to announce that he was unable to reach an agreement with his current club.

By Dario Camacho - MIAMI, FL (Jan 5, 2011) US Soccer Players -- If you haven't been keeping up with the transfer rumors, you might have missed an interesting development. With all the young MLS names that have been spread across transfer stories, the ones grabbing the most attention and making actual progress have been with the older designated players in Major League Soccer.

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. Quite a bit going on in my world at that moment. Now, with the pleasantries out of the way, let's take a look at what's been going on since our much-needed win at Wolves. Turns out, this has been a relatively newsworthy day for the Chels.

CO approved transfer target

Source(s): Chelsea set to make second bid for Lucas Moura
• Lucas Rodrigues Moura da Silva is one of world football's elite young talents.

Last week we gave you our our take on the top business stories in the world of American soccer. Now it's time for you to cast your vote. Don't agree with our options? Vote "other" and drop a line in the comment space with your choice. If you want our take on the five finalists, read the summaries below the poll.

THE KING IS BACK... oh yeah, we also play some team this weekend.

Credit to @BeardedGenius for the picture.

By now you've heard the rumors. Read the Twitters, Sky Sports, and your old ma. Believed it straight away, or looked at the screen in disbelief, yelling obscenities, assured that Wenger took the easy way out, refusing to take a gamble on some multi-million euro German hunk.

Every single agent should say that their player, particularly one of Alvaro Fernandez' quality, is interested in playing for Palermo, a team in a better league for more money. That Fernandez' agent did so is not a surprise. Palermo is a mid-table team in Serie A this season already on its third coach.

We are only days from the opening of the January transfer window. The rumor mill has already been spinning out of control over the past few weeks but, of course, as the new year approaches the links with a Chelsea clearly in need of something special will reach new levels of absurdity.

So, with that being said, why not take the absurdity to new heights ourselves?

With 2012 just a few days away, I thought it might be appropriate to guide everybody on what we can expect as we hit the new year. For those that weren't with us last year, it's quite the spectacle as January and a bit of February are often the most exciting months in the off season due to all the transfer rumors, transfers, SuperDraft, training, and so much more.

No player named Lucas will be on the pitch for Liverpool by the end of January. Though by this time next year there could be two Lucases (Luci? Lucai?) regularly in the starting eleven. And maybe even one Luis Suarez, assuming the English FA doesn't manage to drive him and Liverpool Football Club into the Irish Sea like some unwanted nation state by then.

Don't normally put stock in transfer rumors, but it's a slow week and this story has legs.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects the green light to bid for unhappy Fulham striker Andy Johnson on Wednesday and make him one of the first signings of the winter transfer window.

Kean is due to meet Rovers director Vineeth Rao on his return from a summit with owners Venky's to secure the cash to carry out the £2million swoop.

Don't normally put stock in transfer rumors, but it's a slow week and this story has legs.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects the green light to bid for unhappy Fulham striker Andy Johnson on Wednesday and make him one of the first signings of the winter transfer window.

Kean is due to meet Rovers director Vineeth Rao on his return from a summit with owners Venky's to secure the cash to carry out the £2million swoop.

I think we all had a feeling, for better or worse, that Gary Cahill was going to be a Chelsea player come January after seeing Owen Coyle's comments last week. Now, we have some concrete information from Andre Villas-Boas that the club is indeed pursuing the English defender.

Only a matter time until this is closed then?

Florent Malouda isn't happy with his current bit-part role at Chelsea. He's ready to reevaluate life in London, and apparently is weighing potential moves should his ambition not be met.

Is any of this shocking? Not really.

Not of the avant-garde

Malouda spoke of recent frustration with his lack of match time after Monday's 1-1 draw with Fulham.

Over the next couple of days (and in no particular order), we will present the top American soccer business stories of the year. Early next week we will conduct a vote to see which of the entrants you think is the winner. We'll start with two entrants today, one in Portland and the other in Kansas City.

There's nothing signed and sealed at the moment but it's fair to say there has been dialogue (with Chelsea). I've got to be up front and tell you, as I always do, and that's the situation.

Those are the key words, straight from the mouth of Bolton manager Owen Coyle.

Kids have dreams. And we all dream of being a star. When I was about eight years old, I opened my first ever Excel spreadsheet. It blew me away. The charts. The formulas. The numbers. From that day on, I dreamed of someday being an adult and spending all day looking at Excel Spreadsheets and trying to maximize EBITDA for high revenue but low profit multinational corporate entities.

There's not much in the way of significant news circulating in the immediate wake of our grossly disappointing 1-1 draw in Wigan on Saturday afternoon. What we do have, though, is a few interesting tidbits to touch on. Let's take a look shall we?

To Naples, not London

Vargas opts to join Napoli
Disappointing news out of Chile, with Eduardo Vargas confirming he'll be joining Napoli in the January transfer window.

I may not have been the first journalist to coin the term "Silly Season" as it relates to soccer's global transfer market. But I'd like to think I help add it to the current domestic soccer lexicon, making liberal use of the term as far back as five years ago.

Either way, here we are.