Chelsea must spring into action as Alex Teixeira pushes for January move

It looks like Liverpool's bid for Alex Teixeira wasn't exactly in vain, even though Shakhtar had been adament all season that they won't be selling until the summer.  While the bid, in the region of €30m, was always going to be rejected as the club seem to be holding out for something closer to €50m, Teixeira now seems more unsettled than before.  And even though he suffered a hamstring injury in the last few days, he's pushing for his big money move to be done this week.

"I would like to move in this transfer window and have told them [Shakhtar] that. They have received a very good offer and they are working on a solution. But if I don't go now then I will leave in the summer."

"After six years in Europe and with Shakhtar we are ready to move and I have spoken to my wife and daughter."

It's hard to blame Teixeira for this slight change of tune.  He's always maintained that it's his dream to play in the Premier League and while we were the first to be seriously linked, he'd be probably just as happy with ending up at Liverpool as at Chelsea.

"It is my desire to move to a big league and I know that the English league is very strong. I am ready and I know that I will grow up a lot there. I am aware that two big clubs such as Liverpool and Chelsea are interested but I haven't given my word to either of them."

"I am not ruling out other leagues but I do want to play in the Premier League. In my mind, it is the strongest in the world. I want a challenge and to further my career there. My aim is to move to a big club so that I can well there and get a place in the Brazil squad. Everyone knows that it is hard to achieve and I need to leave here to achieve that goal."

-Alex Teixeira; source: Globo via Guardian

So it's up to us, and up to the usual powers that be (i.e. Emenalo and Granovskaia) to make sure that we don't miss out through inaction, like we sort of did with Douglas Costa, when we waited and he eventually chose Bayern Munich instead.