Just three points off the Premier League relegation zone with twelve games played, it is very much a case of uncharted territory for both Jose Mourinho and an entire genereation of Blues supporters right now.
Nothing short of an absolute disaster of a season so far, the Blues are out of the Capital One Cup too but should still progress from their Champions League group.
But it is the Premier League which Chelsea won at such ease last season that is proving the toughest nut to crack for the Blues right now with the latest defeat coming on the road to Stoke City.
With many pundits failing to put a finger on what exactly has gone wrong with Mourinho’s team, the January transfer window could represent a period whereby the Blues look to address a few of their on-field issues.
By nature, January signings can at least appease a fanbase in the short-term and despite having an entire army of talented young players out on loan, you can imagine that the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge will be earmarking some expensive new talent to solve Chelsea’s current crisis.
With that in mind, we’ve devised a list of five players who should be on Jose Mourinho’s wishlist for the New Year.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players that should be on Jose Mourinho’s January wishlist.
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Paco Alcacer
We saw in the summer transfer window that both Arsenal and Manchester United struggled massively to source a real top quality striker with these players being a rare commodity.
In fairness, Chelsea were never meant to be in a situation where they would be chasing striking reinforcements with Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy looking a more than capable threesome in the summer.
However, fast forward to November and that is not the case at all with Diego Costa having gone off the boil massively, Falcao continuing to be a waste of space and Loic Remy still not being able to shake his bit-part status in the team.
One undoubtedly top class forward who is repoertedly top of Chelsea’s wishlist for January right now is Valencia’s Paco Alcacer according to Metro.
Having struck five goals in La Liga already this term, Alcacer has built upon his impressive reputation as a young player and is most definitely Los Che’s talisman up top.
Seemingly destined for bigger things, it will prove difficult to land Alcacer from Valencia who played hardball with Nicolas Otamendi’s fee in the summer but if he were to be captured, he would give Chelsea a new dimension up front.
Javier Hernandez
Another well-known forward linked with Chelsea in recent days has been former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez who is of course currently a Bayer Leverkusen player.
A thorn in the Blues’ side for United in the past, Mexican international Chicharito seems to be one of those criminally underrated strikers who has started his Bayer career like a house on fire with four Bundesliga strikes in just nine outings.
The latest developments concerning this rumour were reported by ESPN who claim the Blues haven’t made contact with Leverkusen regarding Hernandez’s signature as yet but given his scintillating start in Germany, perhaps we could see him back on these shores earlier than anticipated?
It would of course take a big fee to land him from Bayer so soon after they signed him from United but what Chelsea would be getting is a proven goalscorer and that’s exactly what they need to haul themselves up the league with Diego Costa flattering to deceive.
Goncalo Guedes
Not really talked about before, when Jose Mourinho was first in charge at Stamford Bridge, he made an effort to land a few fellow Portuguese nationals such as Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho but when you look at the current Blues side, no Portuguese players are present.
Of course, this isn’t the answer to Chelsea’s problems but maybe if the Blues looked to land a few players born on the Iberian peninsula, they would want to succeed even more under a Portuguese legend in Mourinho.
One Portuguese talent Chelsea are reportedly scouting right now is Benfica’s Goncalo Guedes who has drawn comparisons with the great Cristiano Ronaldo in recent times.
Just 18-years-old, Guedes is a winger where Pedro, Willian and Eden Hazard currently play but with the latter player potentially the most at risk of leaving in the summer, maybe Chelsea better source a top prospect in Guedes as his potential replacement if the Belgian leaves if Chelsea don’t claim a top four place.
Anderson Talisca
Alongside the aforementioned Goncalo Guedes, another Benfica player Chelsea are reportedly keen on signing is Anderson Talisca who is a player Blues fans will know having been linked with him previously.
The Brazilian is a striker and if the Blues decide to cut short Radamel Falcao’s loan spell in January, he could represent a decent replacement with the player having earned a good reputation last season having scored 11 goals in all competitions.
Still just 21-years-old as well, Chelsea could get the best years out of Talisca who would have no problem settling into life at Stamford Bridge with the likes of fellow Brazilians Ramires and Kenedy already there.
Alex Teixeira
As reported by the London Evening Standard at the end of October, Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Alex Teixeira has already claimed Chelsea are interested in landing his services.
The latest emerging top class Brazilian talent at the Ukrainian club after Willian and Douglas Costa, Teixeira’s reputation has steadily improved with the Donbass Arena-based side a constant fixture in the Champions League.
An attacking midfielder by trade, Chelsea are well stocked with players who can play in that area at the minute but in fairness, Pedro, Eden Hazard and Oscar have flattered to deceive this term while Willian has been one of few to come away with any credit.
While admitting it’s all rumours so far, Teixeira’s comments sounded like a come-and-get-me-plea to us with the Brazilian claiming: “It would be important to play a tournament such as the Premier League, and better yet if it came in January. I’m welcoming a new challenge.”
Time to pick up the phone Jose?
