Apparently* Valencia were very close to securing a loan for Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu last winter before fate scuppered the deal via a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ruled him out for the rest of the season. And now they're thinking of trying to grab him again for next season.
*I.e. the Spanish media is saying so, so I'm trying to figure out how they're trying to get at Jose Mourinho this time.
It makes some sense. Valencia can't afford to buy anyone because they failed to make the Champions League (we could help them out by buying, say, Ever Banega though), so a loan would be a good deal for them, and it would also help Romeu's development. Injury and falling out of favour -- admittedly that's because he was playing poorly -- under Roberto di Matteo have stymied his chances at Stamford Bridge, and a chance to compete at a high level would be hugely beneficial for the 21-year-old.
At the same time, loaning out Romeu would do terrible things to Chelsea's depth in midfield. The Blues suffered badly with him out last year, and unless we get reinforcements in defensive midfield it's difficult to imagine a loan for any of the players actually capable of playing there. I'm not against a Romeu loan in principle -- far from it, in fact -- but we need to find a way to fix the midfield before we start playing games like this.
Jose Mourinho will probably end up having the final say here. He has two serious options in defensive midfield in Romeu and John Obi Mikel, and if he decides that's not enough and brings in a newcomer, Romeu may well be free to head out. If he's content, then this is all a non-story.