Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening in the Premier League.
Olivier Giroud's opener was cancelled out by Anwar El Ghazi in west London, meaning the Blues are now six points behind current table-toppers Liverpool.
Frank Lampard's side are on a poor run at the moment and the head coach could look at the January transfer window as an opportunity to bring back some confidence within the squad.
Plenty of players have been linked with a move to Lampard's side, despite Roman Abramovich splashing more than £200million in the summer.
With that in mind, here is the latest round-up of Chelsea-related transfer rumours and stories from around Europe.
Noble's Rice admission
West Ham United captain Mark Noble has admitted that he is unsure whether reported Chelsea target Declan Rice will be at the club for much longer.
Rice has been heavily linked with a move away from the London Stadium, with Lampard apparently a big admirer of the Hammers star.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Noble said: "He's still learning his trade, he'll get much better with experience. I'm hoping it's here (with West Ham) but in this game, you never know.
"I'm sure he will be a top, top player and an even better player in the years to come."
Blues' Emerson decision
Chelsea could be set to change their mind on letting Emerson Palmieri leave the club in the January transfer window, according to the Express.
Marcos Alonso is in talks over signing for Atletico Madrid, according to reports, which means the Blues could look to keep Emerson as a back-up to first-choice left-back Ben Chilwell.
The Italian has moved ahead of Alonso in the pecking order under Lampard this season, but the former has also been linked with a move to Inter Milan to play under former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte at Inter Milan.
Juventus have also been linked with a move for Emerson, and reportedly held talks in the summer before they broke down.
Smith coy over permanent Barkley deal
According to Dean Smith, via the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa will talk to Chelsea about a permanent move for on-loan midfielder Ross Barkley.
Barkley has impressed since making the loan switch to Villa over the summer and manager Smith has revealed that the club's hierarchy will be discussing the possibility of making the temporary deal permanent in the near future.
“It’s not been discussed. The idea was to bring him on loan,” the Villa boss insisted prior to his side's 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Monday night.
“He’s a Chelsea player and they’ve got a long-term contract with him. That’s one Johan (Lange) and the owners will speak about.”
