Chelsea's January Transfer Window - The Story So Far

With only a handful of hours to go until the close of the January transfer window, it's probably a good time to get caught up on the various storylines and rumours involving Chelsea this winter. Let's get cracking.

• Eden Hazard. The Belgian winger has been reported as a Chelsea target for months now, but Lille have long been reluctant to sell in this window while they attempt to defend their Ligue 1 crown from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier, and eventually Hazard confirmed that he would not be leaving in January. However, the Belgian star has claimed that he'll be moving to England this summer, naming the Blues amongst a 5-team shortlist. Rumours that Hazard has a €40M (£33M) buyout clause appear to be entirely false, although that's the approximate figure Lille will be seeking for their top player.
• Lucas Moura. Rumour has it that Chelsea have made a bid for the Brazilian wonderkid, although the initial figure was rejected by Sao Paulo, who have a €80M (£66M) release clause on their 19-year-old star. Since then, there's been some rumblings of the Blues being close with a second bid and the Telegraph has claimed that we will buy him before the deadline and loan him back to Sao Paulo for the rest of the season - but things have remained awfully quiet on that front since.

• Willian. Shakhtar Donetsk rejected a bid by Chelsea for the winger earlier in the window, but have since tried to convince the Blues to submit another one, with the Ukranians claiming that they'd be happy to lower the price from his €35M release clause due to their 'good relationship' with Chelsea. Any hope of this transfer being consumated was dashed when Andre Villas-Boas admitted that he had no interest in pursuing him, claiming that he would not fit into the club's long-term plan.
• Gary Cahill. Even before January, it was fairly common knowledge that Bolton Wanderers and Chelsea had reached an agreement over the transfer of Gary Cahill. However, the England international's unveiling was delayed by difficulty between the two parties over personal terms, with Cahill reportedly demanding £100,000 per week in wages and Chelsea unwilling to match that figure. Eventually, things got smoothed over and Cahill signed on January 16th with a transfer fee of £7M and reported wages of £80,000 per week. He's expected to make his debut tomorrow against Swansea City.
• Luka Modric & Alvaro Perreira. Despite significant interest in acquiring the duo in August, Villas-Boas has claimed that Chelsea will not be after either player in January. So far, that seems to be true.
• Kevin de Bruyne. Although Chelsea and Genk failed to come to an agreement over the transfer of de Bruyne in the summer, the Blues have kept close tabs on the 20-year-old and reopened talks with the Jupiler League champions last week. At last check, de Bruyne was in London for a medical after the two sides agreed an €8M (£6.7M) deal, and the signing is all but official. He's expected to be loaned back to Genk for the rest of the season.
• Stevan Jovetic. An initial bid for the Montenegrin was supposedly turned down by Fiorentina, but there's no indication that Chelsea have continued their pursuit of the 22-year-old, who's expected to cost in the region of £20M.
• David Luiz for Real Madrid's Pepe. This is a stupid rumour.
• Josh McEachran. Had his choice of Swansea City, Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers for loan spells and made the sensible decision, opting to head to Wales. Should feature often for the Swans, although he faces competition for playing time with a very tough midfield.
• Gael Kakuta. Following a disappointing loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, Kakuta was loaned out to Ligue 1 side Dijon, where he has played a touch over 100 minutes in two matches, scoring the winner against FC Istres in the Coupe de France.
• Patrick van Aanholt. Van Aanholt, who like Kakuta had a difficult Premier League loan in the first half of the season, has joined up with Vitesse Arnheim in the Eredivisie. He's made one appearance with Vitesse, coming on as a substitute during their 3-1 loss against league leaders PSV Eindhoven.
• Alex. The Brazilian defender submitted a written transfer request in August and has since left Chelsea for Paris Saint-Germain after a long flirtation with Queens Park Rangers. After Alex failed to come to personal terms with the hoops, PSG, now headed by former Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti, stepped in, with Chelsea emerging €5M (£4.2M) richer in the process.
• Nicolas Anelka. Although everything was confirmed well in advance of the window opening, Anelka has now completed his move to Shanghai Shenhua for an undisclosed fee.
• Didier Drogba. There were some pretty funny rumours of Drogba joining Anelka in Shanghai this window. While it wouldn't be a complete shock if he had a pre-contract agreement with the Super League club, a transfer is almost certainly out of the question.
• Salomon Kalou. Briefly linked to Arsenal and long-time admirer Arsene Wenger. Speculation continued for a few days before Wenger confirmed that he had zero interest, having already purchased a highly average Ivorian only last summer.
• Patrick Bamford. The Blues have apparently bid 1M+ for Nottingham Forest youth player Bamford, who has has been incredibly impressive in the FA Youth Cup. Forest have confirmed that they've received the bid and don't believe they'll be able to retain the player through the summer.

That should get you up to speed and ready for the rest of the window. We're pretty sure that at the very least de Bruyne will be announced before the deadline closes, and despite the lack of noise the Blues may well have a trick or two up their sleeves...