Here are your latest football.london Chelsea morning headlines on Wednesday, January 13.
Chelsea a 'strong' candidate to beat Arsenal to Dembele
Barcelona have been left frustrated in their ongoing efforts to secure Ousmane Dembele's long-term future. His current deal expires at the end of the season.
According to Wednesday’s edition of L’Equipe (via Sport Witness), Chelsea are "particularly among the strong candidates" to land the Barcelona attacker. It’s even claimed the player has "never hidden his desire" to play in the Premier League.
Dembele played under Thomas Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund and should he decide to join the Champions League winners, the World Cup winner can reunite with the German coach at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal had previously been linked to the Frenchmen but Tuchel's great relationship with the player has apparently made the Blues a 'strong' candidate to win this transfer race.
Read all the latest in our transfer round-up here.
Chelsea qualify for Carabao Cup final
Chelsea have booked their place in the Carabao Cup final after eliminating Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.
The Blues had a two-goal advantage over Spurs heading into the game after winning the first leg 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Kai Havertz breaking the deadlock early on before Ben Davies inadvertently scored an own goal shortly after.
Thomas Tuchel's side then secured a 1-0 win on Wednesday night, scoring the only goal of the game through German defender Antonio Rudiger, who headed past Pierluigi Gollini in the 14th minute.
The west Londoners have now reached final of the competition for the first time since 2019.
Read the full story here.
Broja transfer stance made clear
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has sent the Chelsea hierarchy a transfer message over Armando Broja following the club's takeover by new owner Dragan Solak.
Broja, 20, added a fifth Premier League goal to his name for the season with his strike at the start of the second half in the Saints' 4-1 thrashing of Brentford on Tuesday night.
He rated as an impressive 8.5 out of 10 in Hampshire Live's player ratings from the game with the explanation: 'Broja pushed hard throughout and was as difficult as ever to contain - but he had very few opportunities to score. He only needed one, though, and he took it very well.'
When asked about his side's chances of securing the player in question permanently in the summer, the Austrian manager stated after the win against Brentford: "Yes, sure. He likes it here, he loves it here. It would be great if he was our player.
"He wants to be with us, I think. You can feel this at every moment. The fans love him also, this is good."
Read the full story here.
