Sancho, Chilwell, Ake, Werner, et al.: Latest Chelsea shortlist same as previous Chelsea shortlist

The Premier League season may be in full swing and approaching a most crucial and busy period, but the real action as far as the never-ending hunt for clicks is concerned starts in three weeks, when the January transfer window opens. And given that Chelsea are now allowed to sign (register) new players as well, the rumor mill is wasting no time in linking the Blues with all the transfer targets fit to print. Or, to be more specific, re-linking the Blues with all the transfer targets we can handle.

All the names making the rounds today and this weekend should be very familiar by now. And that means all their specific situations should be familiar as well, and which means that we’re truly unlikely to land any of them next month as none of their teams are likely to sanction any moves, and in some cases the players themselves have no reason to leave either.

We may be desperate for a left back, for example, but Ben Chilwell would be silly to leave Leicester City right now, considering that the Foxes appear to be the only possible challengers left for Liverpool’s first league title in living memory. Similarly, Bundesliga duo Jadon Sancho (club-record £100m bid incoming, claimed the Mail this weekend) or Timo Werner (today’s special Twitter special) have a better than usual chance of actually winning the league title as Bayern have won just 7 of their 14 games so far. (Though it should be noted that Chelsea worked a buy-and-loan-back deal for Christian Pulisic in similar circumstances last season, and then Bayern ended up winning the title anyway.)

Other names may be more available, but also less enticing. Wilfried Zaha is in his prime and wanting Champions League football. He’s not going to get that at Crystal Palace and time is running out on the prime years of his career. We may or may not have a £40m buyback option on Nathan Ake, who may or may not actually want to come back. Strikers Moussa Dembele and Callum Wilson had been linked before with Chelsea and are thus easy stories to rehash as well, regardless of their specific situations.

All but the latter two will likely circle back around for the summer transfer window as well, when some of them will surely materialize into actual transfer moves. By then, we’ll probably be barking up other soon-to-be-familiar (again) trees as well, such as Erling Haaland or Kai Havertz or whoever else. The rumor mill demands sustenance!