Chelsea news LIVE: Express Sport bring you all the updates from Stamford Bridge

Wednesday January 10

Real Madrid up Hazard approach

01:45: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is preparing a huge summer spending spree on signing both Harry Kane and Eden Hazard, but he must do one thing first.

Barcelona lost Neymar in the summer but have replaced the Brazilian with Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho, who completed his £142million move from Liverpool on Monday.

But Real are not prepared to sit on their heels this summer and are prepared to spend big having gone three summers without any huge outlays.

Both Kane and Hazard have been touted as their No 1 targets, with the latter’s father coming out and stating the Chelsea star is holding out for a move to the Bernabeu.

And Spanish outlet OK Diario claim Real will push ahead with a bid for the Premier League duo in the summer.

Tuesday 9 January

Chelsea wanted Van Dijk

22:52: Antonio Conte has revealed Chelsea tried to sign Virgil van Dijk before Liverpool got their hands on the defender.

“This is football. This is life," Conte said.

"For sure he was our target but as you know this is football. 

“We can have a lot of targets but you must be able to reach those targets.

"The transfer market is not simple for any club. Liverpool bought Van Dijk to reinforce his defensive line, and I think Van Dijk is a top defender. And they spent €85million for this player.

"At the same time, they sold very well [Philippe Coutinho] because when you sell a player for this amount of money, and then you have the rest of money to invest and to improve your team. But I think the transfer market is not simple, especially if there is this amount of money.”

Alex Sandro transfer latest

21:56: Juventus have a target lined up if Alex Sandro moves to the Premier League.

Chelsea and Manchester United are both interested in signing Sandro.

A move from the Blues is said to have stalled over his transfer fee.

Juventus want £61. (€70m) for the defender.

And Gazzetta dello Sport claim Juve already have Roma’s Emerson Palmieri on their radar as a replacement.

Juve seem happy to get the deal done, knowing they can snap up Emerson for just £17.6m (€20m) and make a huge profit from this transfer window.

Lukaku transfer shock

20:49: Everton offered Romelu Lukaku a staggering contract to keep him at the club last summer, says Farhad Moshiri.

Lukaku joined Manchester United after rejecting a new deal at Goodison Park but for a while looked as though he was heading to Chelsea.

And Moshiri has revealed some strange details regarding Lukaku’s Everton exit, including the suggestion the player was desperate to join the Blues.

“With Romelu I wasted two summers trying to keep him. I spoke to him, his agent, his mother,” Moshiri said.

“We tried to offer him a better offer than Chelsea. He wanted to play for Chelsea though - at that time.

“The money that agents can get from players moving club is immense and nothing has to be disclosed.

“Bill (Kenwright) has been like a father to many players, but ultimately it’s the agents they rely on.

“If I tell you what we offered him, you won’t believe it, and we offered him an even better deal.

“His agent came to Finch Farm to sign the contract then Lukaku phones his mother and ‘there was a pilgrimage to Africa and some sort of voodoo that says he had to sign for Chelsea’. What can you do?

“He’d gone to LA and wouldn’t go back, his brain had gone.”

Why Conte wants Carroll

19.55: Chelsea boss Antonio Conte wants to sign West Ham striker Andy Carroll because he brings the qualities lost by the sale of Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid, says Shaun Goater.

Goater thinks Conte would like the 29-year-old to hold the ball up and create width for his side, just like Costa did.

“They would certainly have to adjust slightly to get the best out of Carroll,” he said on Sky Sports.

“Diego Costa, a former Chelsea player, he was a big, physical player. 

“Conte knows that was key to them winning the Premier League, so he’s probably thinking ‘we need someone who can hold that ball up, so when it goes wide we can dominate’. So that is perhaps his thinking.”

Chelsea done deal

18:46: Andreas Christensen has signed a new contract at Chelsea until 2022.

The Denmark international has cemented his place in the Blues first team this season.

“It feels really good to sign a new contract and I’m just happy to be committed to Chelsea for the future,” the centre-back said.

“I’ve played a lot of games, I’m enjoying it at the club and everything is working well.”

One in before Kenedy exit

17.25: Chelsea will not allow Kenedy to join Premier League relegation candidates Newcastle until they sign another left-sided player, says Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett.

“We understand that Newcastle are keen to take Kenedy on loan from Chelsea,” Dorsett said.

“Chelsea will play ball but only once they’ve got more cover on the left for Marcos Alonso. 

“So a bit of a waiting game for (Rafael) Benitez on that one.”

Conte in for Carroll

14.25: Antonio Conte has refused to rule out a move for Andy Carroll.

Chelsea were linked with a move for the West Ham striker last week.

And Conte is yet to dismiss the talk.

“As I said before the club knows very well which are the position we can improve,” he said. 

“I am very happy to work with my players and the commitment of my players. 

“If there is a possibility to improve the squad the club knows very well.”

Conte on Mourinho comments

13.45: Antonio Conte responds to a question on his comments about Jose Mourinho.

“I have this look of a person that regrets?” he asks. 

“I don’t think so. We have both said things and we will see what happens in the future.”

The tension builds.

Wenger on Chelsea clash

11.00: Arsene Wenger insists the defeat to Nottingham Forest will have no bearing on the Chelsea League Cup semi-final.

Arsenal were dumped out of the FA Cup on Sunday and face Chelsea tomorrow night.

But Wenger says it won’t effect his side.

“We will of course want to respond,” he said. 

“It’s a different game, it’s a semi-final and it’s an important game against a big team. Psychologically the whole context will be different.”

But Wenger has had no fitness boosts. 

“We don’t recover anybody unfortunately,” he added. 

“I believe that on Sunday we paid the price for having many injured players. 

“Some needed to be rested but we also had five or six players injured. That’s a bit detrimental to the rotation as well.”

Hazard tops Madrid's list

10.00: Eden Hazard is Real Madrid’s top target, according to Guillem Balague.

The Chelsea ace is on Madrid’s radar along with Harry Kane - but that interest is unlikely to come to anything until the summer.

“It's no secret that they need a new goal scorer,” Balgue said on Real Madrid.

“This time last season, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema had scored 20 La Liga goals between them. 

“But this time around, they have only scored 10. None of them have managed more than four goals in the league!

“So who's on the wanted list? Eden Hazard is a top target and the club is interested in Harry Kane even though they are very aware that his emotional link to Spurs and to his manager, Mauricio Pochettino, plus the fact that Ronaldo does not want a similar striker next to him, make the move unlikely.

“But those two candidates are logically only considered for the summer.”

Sandro deal stalls

08.25: Chelsea may have to delay a move for Sandro until the summer as they are struggling to reach an agreement with Juventus for the full-back.

The Telegraph claim the Italian side have put a £60m price-tag on the Brazilian which is too high for the Blues.

And it is suggested the Stamford Bridge club could miss out on him altogether, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain all linked.

Chelsea have already snapped up Ross Barkley from Everton this month for £15m but it is said he was not a priority signing for Conte.

Ronaldo shock move

08.00: Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly set his sights on a move to Chelsea because Manchester United will not offer him a return to the Premier League.

Spanish outlet Don Balon claim Ronaldo is determined to leave Real Madrid this month and wants to come back to England.

And with Eden Hazard said to be keen on a move in the opposite direction, the report says a deal could be struck.

The Blues are said to have a clear path to sign Ronaldo as United have no interest in the 32-year-old as Jose Mourinho and Ronaldo do not see eye to eye.

Bailey transfer battle

07.30: Chelsea are also said to be lining up a move for highly-rated Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey.

However, The Mirror claim the Blues will face stiff competition for his signature from the Premier League.

Manchester United and Arsenal are both said to be showing interest in the 20-year-old Jamaican.

The Blues are said to have been long-time admirers of Bailey and who said to be valued in excess of £40m.