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Chelsea were held to 1-1 draw by Aston Villa in their final game of 2020, and the Blues will hope for more consistency in January. Let’s take a look at the latest news featuring Chelsea from 29 December 2020:
Chelsea not in the running to sign David Alaba
Bayern Munich's David Alaba is a player in high demand, but Chelsea will not be his next destination as per the latest reports.
Chelsea were said to be one of Alaba’s possible destinations as per his agent Pini Zahavi (h/t TeamTalk). However, The Athletic’s David Ornstein has now denied that the Blues could make an offer in the January transfer window.
Alaba will be free to open discussions with clubs outside Germany in January, and the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Barcelona have been linked with a move.
Chelsea spent more than £200 million in the summer transfer window, and it’s unlikely they will strengthen their squad unless they can sell some of their fringe players.
Chelsea are not in a crisis, says former midfielder
Former midfielder and television pundit Andy Townsend believes Chelsea are not in a crisis despite their poor run of results in the Premier League.
Frank Lampard’s side have won just one out of their last five league games, and have lost three times. The poor string of results has seen them slip down to sixth, and six points behind league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
There is some pressure on Lampard as the Blues drew their last game 1-1 against Aston Villa, but Townsend feels it’s only a blip as they have been competitive.
"As Frank said there, there's a little bit missing at the moment. It's not serious. It's far from a crisis despite the fact that their current form isn't great," he said.
"The team showed today there's a very competitive spirit in the camp, they're capable of creating chances,” Townsend explained.
Game against Manchester City might not go ahead, feels Lampard
Manchester City’s clash against Everton was postponed after news broke that several at City had tested positive for COVID-19. City were already without Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus before the latest outbreak, and it remains to be seen if their game against Chelsea will go ahead on Sunday.
Manchester City had released a statement that said the security of their bubble was compromised, and there was a greater risk of spread had the game against Everton gone on.
Lampard has explained that the club will find out more on the situation and whether or not the game against Manchester City next weekend will go ahead:
"It’s a key time and a rough time, and we felt that coming, with Tier 4 coming in and the surge in Covid,” Lampard told the media.
“From our point of view, I will find out more over the next day or two to make sure it has to be safe for the two teams. If not the [Man City] game won’t go ahead,” he added.
