More transfer window fun, although I'm not convinced this one has legs. From French magazine L'Equipe:
Selon nos informations, Chelsea a transmis une offre à l'ASSE dans la journée de dimanche. Contrairement aux deux premières propositions parisiennes, elle n'aurait pas (encore ?) été écartée par le président du Directoire du club stéphanois, Roland Romeyer. Il se murmure dans le Forez que le dirigeant serait prêt à accepter le départ de Dimitri Payet si une offre aux alentours de 10 millions d'euros parvenait jusqu'à son bureau. L'international français, lui, est toujours résolu à ne plus porter le maillot Vert
My French is admittedly not spectacular, but let's give this translation business a go anyway. To Google!
Chelsea have reportedly sent an offer to St. Etienne [for Dimitri Payet] on Sunday. This offer has not yet been rejected by club chairman Roland Romeyer, unlike previous bids for Payet by Paris Saint-Germain. There are rumours that the club would agree to let Payet go for around 10M, and the French international still wishes to leave the club.
I re-phrased that to make it readable, but that, apparently, is the gist of things. Payet is a 23 year-old winger who originally hails from the island of Reunion, something that's interesting to me but to presumably to nobody else. He's had regular appearances with the French U-21 side and two caps with the senior squad after Laurent Blanc shook the team up following the 2010 World Cup disaster, so he's at least got some real potential. He's not too much of a goalscorer (14 goals in 103 appearances with St. Etienne), and I've never paid enough attention to him to get a clear picture of what he's like.
My understanding of the situation is that Payet has submitted a transfer request and wants to head to PSG, and speculation suggests that this may simply be a fake offer leaked by St. Etienne to push up PSG's offer to be more in line with what they think he's worth. I do know Payet has turned some heads with his play recently, and he's the sort of player Chelsea might be interested in, but he doesn't strike me as particularly world class. Regardless, we'll have more for you as we get it.