The Soccer Blog: CFC on deadline day: Live, as it happens

Monday, 31 January 2011

CFC on deadline day: Live, as it happens

By: Jack | January 30th, 2011
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It’s about to go down, kids.

All of the above?

And a good morning to you all.

It’s deadline day, a day usually chock full of unsubstantiated rumors and utter bullshit – no doubt spouted from the mouths of Sky’s crack team of on-site reporters. Not this year. I believe we are in for one of the most entertaining deadline days in recent memory if not ever, even if the famous CFC fails to secure the services of anyone.

We here at The CO have decided to follow the madness live – for the most part – keeping you informed of the news as it happens (hopefully). So stay with us for all of the latest deadline day gossip regarding Chelsea. Check back throughout the day. Refresh often. If it happens and Chelsea is involved, we should have it. If we don’t, add it in the comments section and we’ll throw it up.

Happy hunting to Roman & Co.

Legend
** = substantial info
Italic = signing announced by media
Bold = confirmed by club

6:45am (GMT): The latest on the Torres saga. It appears that a deal can be struck before the end of the window. A straight cash deal looks likely – Anelka, Sturridge, Kalou not to be involved – with figures between £45 (Telegraph) and £50 million (Guardian, Independent) being quoted. The Guardian goes on to say that “Chelsea hopeful that Liverpool’s asking price will drop to as low as £37m as 11pm approaches, although that appears unlikely.” We’ll keep you posted, obviously.

7am: Bolton, after failing to secure a loan move for Arsenal striker Carlos Vela, have turned their sights onto Daniel Sturridge. Could happen, particularly if Torres makes the move, but I can’t really see it. Sturridge did miss Saturday’s game at Everton with an apparent knee injury – questionable. Hey, at least if Studge did move to the Reebok, he would get a game or three, though.

7:20am: Dimitri Payet. The 23-year-old Saint-Etienne winger has been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain (bid rejected) and Liverpool. Now, according to L’Équipe reckons we’ve made an £8m bid for the player. Tricky player, who is good on both wings. Played a bit as a second striker this season.

8:02am: Not much to report, except that I’m fucking tired (it’s 3:02am in my neck of the woods). I’ve been reviewing the latest with regard to David Luiz. The deal was proclaimed dead on Friday by Benfica, but I never believed that and neither have the papers. A Bola figure we’ll make a last-ditch effort to secure the Brazilian defender today, with Gary Cahill our second choice. Tie up Luiz then.

8:10am: Sky Sports expects Chelsea to finalize a deal for Torres before the end of the window. Expect being the key word here.

8:12am: Former Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia is on Radio 5. His take on why Fernando Torres is ready to bail on Liverpool: “Torres left Atletico looking for trophies and titles and he has not achieved any of them and maybe it is time to think about it. Liverpool are in a position where they are struggling in the league and maybe with all the changes they have done it is a good moment to leave.” Sounds about right.

8:26am: Ben Smith of The Times, nine minutes ago via Twitter: “#LFC will sell Torres to #CFC today if their valuation is met AND Dalglish can sign replacements in time”

8:30am: Inside Futbol say Payet has pleaded with Saint-Etienne to allow him to join PSG.

9:11am: Torres just entered Liverpool’s training facility at Melwood. AHHHHHHHHHH

**9:15am: French football journailst Tom Williams, a minute ago via Twitter: “Saint-Etienne’s Dimitri Payet, reportedly subject of bid from Chelsea yesterday, tells L’Equipe: ‘I’ve made my choice. I want to join PSG.’” I guess that’s one we can definitively rule out then.

9:30am: Sky Sports bloke at Cobham says he’s overheard chatter from our players that suggests they think the Torres deal will happen. This clearly means we don’t have a chance in hell of pulling this one off before the deadline.

**9:31am: Here’s some interesting news. Darren Lewis of The Mirror, a minute ago via Twitter: “Daniel Sturridge set to end talk of a move to #lfc. Having a medical at Bolton ahead of a loan deal.” Surely we wouldn’t allow this move to go through if we weren’t confident of securing Torres?

9:35am: Dan Levene, also known as BluesChronicle on Twitter, says the club will neither confirm nor deny whether negotiations for David Luiz have ceased.

10:02am: Kenny Dalglish presser in progress right now. Has had nothing new to say regarding the Torres situation (no Jersey Shore).

10:07am: Ben Smith of The Times reports via Twitter that Liverpool have removed all promotional images/video from their official website. Nonsense.

**10:20am: Darren Lewis of The Mirror, two minutes ago via Twitter: “Sorry to all of you asking. It appears Liverpool have accepted a bid for Torres. Just trying to confirm it but our men say yes.” I like Lewis, but I’m going to need a little more confirmation here.

10:25am: Watching this Dalglish presser on Sky Sports, the man looks weathered. It must’ve been one hell of a night. A quote of note: “People move and people come but the most important people at lfc are the ones who want to be here.”

10:47am: DannyTheJourno, a reputable CFC supporter on Twitter, has heard from a Portuguese journailst that a deal for Torres has been agreed. More coming as we get it, of course.

11am: Ian McGarry, two minutes ago via Twitter: “senior source at #cfc told me they have not made a new bid for Torres and are considering their position. #lfc”

11:10am: Ben Smith of The Times is 100 percent certain that Liverpool have launched a £30m bid for Andy Carroll. Radio 5 and Sky Sports say the same. Intriguing.

11:18am: Regarding that bid from Liverpool for Carroll. Speaking with a friend a couple of months ago, I said I wouldn’t have minded seeing Chelsea make around a £15m bid for the Newcastle striker in this window. But £30m? Fuck me, that’s insane. Darrent Bent, bargain.

11:28am: Bolton manager Owen Coyle doing his best Redknapp on Sky Sports regarding Danny. Calls him potentially the best young striker in England.

11:30am: Eurosport.fr reporting that we have turned our attention back toward Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin. Spanish radio say a bid of around €18m has been made. Alternative to Luiz? Also rumors linking us to Payet are still swirling, despite the earlier news of the player seeking a move to PSG.

11:49am: Apparently Torres is not taking part in training today.

11:53am: Couple of journalists on Twitter say Saint-Etienne have confirmed that we have made a bid for Payet. Liverpool also interested.

11:55am: I am famished. Food a priority. Back in 15-20 minutes. By then we will probably have inked Torres, a defender and an attacking midfielder. Lovely.

12:36pm: Food digested. Stomach pleased. What did I miss? Not much it seems. The Mirror is reporting that Torres has apparently left Melwood in a helicopter. Stylish getaway. Elsewhere, Bolton are closer to tying up Sturridge on loan. Nothing new on the defender front.

Torres’ escorts to west London.

1:10pm: So there was a helicopter that departed Melwood. It was, however, no Nandocopter. That shatters my entire universe. Then again, it was The Mirror reporting that so you take it with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, Torres has just left the Liverpool training facility in an Audi. Boom.

1:17pm: BBC correspondent Dan Roan, two minutes ago via Twitter: “Reliably informed that talks on image rights and salary (approx 175k/week) are all that remains for Torres deal to be completed #bbcfootball”

1:25pm: Bruma’s proposed loan move to West Bromwich looks to be off. Would that be because we have been unable to secure one our defensive prospects?

1:30pm: Absolutely knackered. Going to get a bit of rest. Of course, everything will go down while I’m passed out. Super. See you guys in a few hours – that is unless I manage to hear something from Sky while attempting to sleep.

3:12pm: Just woke up for a second. What have I missed?

3:15pm: The club have confirmed that Jacob Mellis has joined Barnsley until 8 May.

**3:20pm: OK. So what I can gather in a half-zombie state is that Liverpool and Newcastle are in discussions that would theoretically bring Andy Carroll to Merseyside in a £35m deal. You read that right. Meanwhile, we are flushing out the £50m move for Torres, with medical on the cusp of taking place. I think. This really has been a dull fucking day, eh?

3:22pm: Another quick thought on the potential move of Carroll to Liverpool. And, to think, I thought we were overpaying for Torres. Comedy.

3:40pm: Interesting to see that the player + cash rumors have resurfaced. A couple of sources are suggesting the figure for Torres will be £48m and Nicolas Anelka. Can’t say I like the idea of that, particularly with Sturridge taking his ego to Bolton. Sound bogus anyway, what with the deal for Carroll looking increasingly likely.

5:52pm: I’m awake again! Deadline day is destroying my life.

**5:56pm: The latest on Torres. Liverpool have agreed to snatch Andy Carroll from Newcastle for £25 plus add-ons. Again, you did read that correctly. What’s this mean for Torres? Well, he’s awaiting permission from Liverpool to undergo a medical at Chelsea. It looks, as of right now, that this deal will be completed barring any hiccups in the medical.

6pm: Finally something on David Luiz. Duncan Castles of The Times says via Twitter that reports out of Lisbon suggest Chelsea have reached an agreement with Benfica for the player. No confirmation.

6:05pm: Side Lowe, seven minutes ago via Twitter: “Carroll is official. Torres should be in the not too distant.”

Chelsea, you say? Fucking mint!

6:27pm: Sorry, guys. We had a few problems with the site as web traffic begins to pick up. Quite a bit has happened in the past 20 or so minutes.

6:40pm: Nandocopter? Try Luizcopter. Significant news this. A deal for David Luiz appears to have been struck between Benfica and Chelsea. The defender is currently flying into London to thrash out personal terms, according to Sky Sports. The deal, all but dead as late as yesterday, now is being reported as done by a number of outlets including A Bola. Terms of the deal look like this – €20m up front with €5m due in 2013. Nemanja Matic has also been included in the deal. We’ll alert you when we hopefully receive confirmation from the club.

6:45pm: So, deals for Luiz and Torres? That would represent an incredible window for the club. Two world-class players.

6:50pm: So taking a closer look at what Liverpool are doing today. To spend around £75m on Carroll, Suarez and Adam? Seriously. Let’s just say that if I’m throwing out that kind of cash, I’d like to secure at least one world-class player. I mean, I know Dalglish has a good track record with forwards – Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge, Shearer – but this wreaks of desperation/panic from a mid-table club in decline. I can see what they’re trying to do, and it may well work out well for them, but I thought Dalglish was a temporary fix? He can’t possibly be now, can he? Just weird.

6:52pm: BREAKING – The shirt burning has commenced on Merseyside. Classic.

7:15pm: Sky Sports News have given us an ETA on Luiz. 9 p.m., they say.

7:26pm: SSN says that Liverpool and Chelsea have agreed a fee for Torres. Around £50m.

7:33pm: Time for lunch. Back in 30.

7:35pm: Liverpool release an official statement on Torres. “Liverpool Football Club tonight confirmed they have agreed a fee with Chelsea for the sale of Fernando Torres. The player has now been given permission to speak to the London club.” Nothing standing in our way now. Who would have thought this was possible just a week ago? Stunned that this looks like it is actually going to happen.

Some Related Chelsea Posts:Poll: Fernando Torres, yay or nay?Will Studge head out on loan?Today’s rubbish rumour: Sturridge to Liverpool?Confirmed (pretty much): Neymar to remain at SantosTransfer roundup: Cork to Burnley, Burkina Faso starlet joining?

Category: Chelsea Team News, Live, Transfer News, Transfer Rumors

Tags: Benfica, Chelsea Team News, Daniel Sturridge, David Luiz, Dimitri Payet, Fernando Torres, Gary Cahill, Kun Aguero, Live, LIverpool, Nicolas Anelka, Pedro Leon, Transfer News, Transfer Rumors
Tweet « FA Cup Recap: Everton 1-1 Chelsea | Home | Chelsea_AlanChelsea TV are doing a live 'special' tonight with all the latest 'official' news..... 10pm!龍爺if nelks is shipped for torres and sturridge leaves on loan...isn't there a possibility that Kalou will be our only striker at one point?JackAnd the iced-out Borini, of course. I don't think Anelka is off, though. No way.HollinsIf Torres completes his move and the expected domino effect occurs, today may go a long way toward Arsenal winning the League. Arsenal has one EPL away match the next month. To Newcastle. And United would have to twice face an improved Chelsea.DesaillyFrom Rio Ferdinand's Twitter "David Villa cost 34m....integral member of successful Spain team and played regular Champions League...UK market is crazy right now!"arn00bAll eyes on Carroll.LukaAnything new?JackJust woke back up. News coming as I find it.ChelseaI wonder if these so called millionaires and billionaires know how to do business. They are inflating the salaries of unproven athletes. I mean does that mean Torres will score load of goals for Chelsea in every single game? Because if thats not the case then he would be a failure the same way Shevchenko was a failure.
If Torres does come, I will expect nothing but greatness from him otherwise he should expect my constant never ending bashing and criticism.
I mean look at Kaka. Real Madrid bought him for 70 millions Euros, and since 2009 he has only played 27 games and scored 9 goals. He is currently on the bench, and sucks.
I mean I would expect self made billionaires and business executives to learn a few lessons from those buys.
We are paying F*** too much!
JackYes, we are. But at least we're not shipping out around 50m on Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam.SethESPNSoccernet claim that Torres is on his way to cfc facilities, and the deal is just about done. they say 80m in fees and wages, all totaled up.HollinsReviewing Carlo's history at Milan, I suppose he never could've been expected to initiate the youth movement and financial self-sufficiency long promised at Chelsea.

That said, with Torres and Luiz, you couldn't do much better at replacing the creakiness of Drogba and Terry. I wonder, though, if this will affect the dressing room. Didier and John are basically being told that they're in the neighborhood of past it.JackCockney?ChelseaI just hope we do not spend anywhere near 40 millions pounds for Torres.
I want him, but thats seriously too much. Especially given his form and injuries woes the past year. 30 millions pounds is fine but no more! If we were to go over 30 millions pounds, there must be some performance-based conditions (goals and games played).
Look how much cheaper Milan got Ibrahimovic from Barca i.e only 24 millions euros.
So let's not be fooled by Liverpool, and get scammed us out our money.
Thanks for the update!my blood is blueDoesn't matter what you hope. If Bent is 24 mil and Carroll 30 mil, then Torres is definitely worth more than 50 million. I dont care if we pay 70million but get him. And I am not even a fan of Torres. And then we should go out and grab dome more in next few hours. Winter transfer market is never meant to be cheap.GaryThe idea of Torres at CFC is very exciting, but Luiz is a more important transfer. I think we should give Benfica what they want for Luiz. Who cares if they are playing hardball. Let’s get Luiz and talk about Benfica afterwards (play the ball).kingbluetaking our minds off torres for a moment. we are still short in defence and we need a realible cover for cech. what about the stoke keeper and luiz, does anybody know anythingJackEverything we know is in the post above. When news break, we'll have it - as long as I'm still awake, ha.my blood is blueIf CFC are looking for an impact player to lift their season, Torres is the man even with his poor form. Though, a Luiz deal seems more likely than Torres moving to the Bridge. Hell, Luiz might have been playing @ everton if we haDn't fucked up the payment. I still believe Luiz @25 is a better value for money than Cahill who wasn't that impressive against us last week.

Hopefully, we do get someone before time up. The more the better! Because I can't see us winning anything with the current squad with 2 youngsters already gone for loan. We are a few tackles away from having only 11 fit players and no one on the bench.

KTBFFH!!JackPersonally, I don't rate Cahill. Luiz and Torres would be spectacular.GaryI don't rate Cahill either. I will be disappointed if we don't get Luiz, especially after coming so close. There are few defenders with his kind of ball skill.Jihadjust imagine if torres arrives(hopefully): 4-4-2
cech
bosingwa-ivanovic-terry-cole
essies-ramires-lampard-malouda
torres-drogba
FFFFFEEEAAARRRFFFUUULLLL!!!!Vishwasai Rajendraeven better... 4-1-2-1-2
ivanovic-david luiz\alex-terry-cole
ramires
essien-lampard
anelka
torres-drogba

crazy!!!!!!!!!GaryAgreed! And if we want to seal the goal off completely, Luiz is a good centre half too! We can play five defenders!TimlosTorres and Luiz it is for me. Pls work out the Luiz deal or it might cost us more in the end when we score but can't keep a clean sheet.Kieranbenhamhopefully we sign torres so we might as well sell sturrigeGuestWouldn't be surprised if after picking up Torres we loaned Sturridge to Bolton. Still holding out for David Luiz, myself, though...blog comments powered by Disqus