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Things have seemingly gone quiet in Chelsea's hunt to reinforce their midfield, as there has been no news since hearing that Chelsea's initial bid for Fredy Guarin had been rejected. Today brings us some fresh quotes for Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio though, indicating that Chelsea still have the green light to discuss a deal with the Colombian:
"Guarin is however an Inter player and we are happy to keep him. There was a contact with Chelsea, and that makes us proud since he is an important player. They have the okay to speak to the player’s agent, but should he remain we would be happy. We have no desire to sell him, he is an important player and he is proving it."
We also saw a report from Portugal today, indicating that Nemanja Matic will be available as soon as Benfica's top of the table clash against Porto is played this coming weekend. The sourcing on the Matic source is sketchy at best, but given Benfica's financial situation and their Champions League free schedule following Sunday's match, it actually makes some degree of sense.
Both would be solid options, though I'd be shocked if Matic wasn't the preferred target of almost everyone reading this site. Either one would increase our chances of winning the Premier League by a considerable margin though, and as long as one of the pair is in the fold come February 1, I'll be pretty happy.
