Chelsea are set to start off their January spending by triggering Demba Ba’s £7.5 million release clause and are set to follow that up by signing Brazlian duo Paulinho and Taison, who play for Corinthians and Metalist Kharkiv respectively.
The Daily Mirror are running with the rumour and there had been reports towards the end of November that Taison, 24, had visited Stamford Bridge to discuss a potential £10 million switch from Ukraine to west London, whilst Chelsea have managed to get a first hand look at box-to-box midfielder Paulinho during the World Club Cup final against Corinthians.
After a winter slump, the Blues have enjoyed some better form in recent weeks and we’re once again being talked about as potential challengers, albeit with something of a gap to make up. But we crashed out of the Champions League in the first round and Roman Abramovich is reportedly keen to see through the overhaul that started with Andre Villas-Boas last season and we should see a continuation of this in January as a few new faces join the club.
The owner also seems to have a penchant for Brazilians as we already have Oscar, Ramires, David Luiz and Lucas Piazon, with Wallace to arrive in the summer, which would help them to settle in should they sign for the Stamford Bridge club.
It would be unfair of me to judge if either player would represent value for money or a good deal as I don’t believe I have seen Taison play and have only really seen 24-year-old Paulinho when we played Corinthians, but the latter is the sort of player we need to bolster our ranks in midfield with Romeu out and John Obi Mikel heading off to the African Cup of Nations. Whereas Taison is described as an attacking midfielder/forward, so is probably something of a support striker and I’m guessing he’d be used in rotation or backup if he arrived.
…or it could be your usual rumour mill waffle, who knows?
