Chelsea deal announced, Midfielder free to leave Blues, Maresca confirms new defender may be signed

Here is a roundup of the top Chelsea news, gossip and transfers speculation from icchelseanews that we think you may have missed featuring Kieran Drewsbury-Hall, Enzo Maresca and Kai Crampton…

It is up to Kieran Drewsbury-Hall if he wants to leave CHELSEA now that the January transfer window is open after failing to make an impact at Stamford Bridge during his brief spell at the club

Dewsbury-Hall remained loyal to Leicester over that summer transfer window, and with Enzo Maresca at the helm, the Englishman has enjoyed his most prolific season to date and helped get the club back to the Premier League.

But when the club made the decision to offer Enzo Maresca the chance to take over at Stamford Bridge, the Italian was desperate to make sure that the midfielder was also brought to London in a shock move.

However, the move to London has not worked out for the player, He has clocked up just 43 minutes of Premier League action over three appearances this season, with only one of those – a six-minute stint at West Ham – coming since August.

While he has been given more opportunities in the Europa Conference League and the EFL Cup –  he has frequently been left out of the Premier League squad in recent weeks and now looks set to leave the club.

Per The Telegraph, West Ham are in search of a quality central midfielder as they look to bolster their squad in the January transfer window after a poor start to their Premier League campaign. The Hammers have kept the Blues midfield duo on their shortlist and could approach their London rivals soon.

Amid all the speculation that the midfielder is leaving the club, The Italian manager recently emphasized that the decision ultimately rests with Dewsbury-Hall and the club. He explained, “We don’t want one of our players to leave.

‘The problem is sometimes the question is more for them. If they say ‘You don’t want me to leave but I am not happy and want to play more’, in that case, we are not going to say ‘No, you have to stay’.

‘It’s a matter of an agreement between the club and the player. The only thing I can say is I am happy with Kiernan, then we will see.”

CRAMPTON DEAL ANNOUNCED

Academy goalkeeper Kai Crampton has completed a permanent transfer to Bournemouth, after the decision was made by CHELSEA that he would be allowed to leave the club on a permanent basis.

The Blues posted on the club website: ‘Crampton joined Chelsea through our development centre at Under-8s level and progressed through the ranks at Cobham.

‘During the 2023/24 season, he appeared for the Under-18 Premier League South-winning side and was goalkeeper in our Under-17 Premier League Cup final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

‘Crampton made four Under-18s appearances in the league and cup this season and featured twice for National League South side Hampton & Richmond on a matchday loan.

‘We wish Kai all the best as he embarks on the next chapter of his career.’

AFC Bournemouth development squad goalkeeping coach Charlie Philpott said: “We are pleased to have Kai sign with us.

“He is a good young goalkeeper who has previously had some good experiences within England’s youth setup as well as in the men’s environment with Hampton & Richmond in recent years.

“He’ll come into a competitive and improving PDP goalkeeping setup with us at AFC Bournemouth and we’re looking forward to seeing how he develops in the coming seasons.”

IcChelseanews View…

It is sad to see the young man leave the club, but at the end of the day, it is probably the best decision from him as we have far too many quality players ahead of him in the pecking order.

MARESCA TO BRING IN NEW DEFENDER

Enzo Maresca suggested CHELSEA are looking for defensive reinforcements in January after Wesley Fofana was the latest player to pick up an injury that could keep him out for the rest of the season.

The 24-year-old joined the the club in 2022 but has struggled to stay fit – but this season he has become an integral apart of the Enzo Maresca side and has been playing pretty well throughout most of the season.

Fofana had started all 12 of the Premier League matches he has played in since the start of the season, completing the full 90 minutes on 10 occasions in that time frame.

Fofana could be out for the entire season with an injury much worse than they originally feared, and now the Italian boss admits that he may have to delve into that transfer kitty this January window and add to his side.

He said: ‘For sure, Wes is a huge loss. I don’t think this kind of injury can be compared to the rest. This one is muscle and previously he hasn’t had any muscle problems, so it’s completely different

“Probably with Wes (Fofana) and Benoit (Badiashile) injuries, we will see if something is going to happen [in the transfer market],”

IcChelseanews View…

If The club are going to buy some new defender, they need to make sure that it is one that is already proven and that can make an immediate impact, they need a leader at the back and this is a great opportunity for Marcesa to get a  player that he actually wants.

MORE BIG CHELSEA NEWS AND GOSSIP

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