There are 13 hours to go and Chelsea’s priority is finding new homes, whether temporary or permanent, for a number of players considered surplus to requirements by Frank Lampard.
Callum Hudson-Odoi is not one of them and unless Bayern Munich return with another bid bordering on silly money the young midfielder will stay at Stamford Bridge and fight for a regular place.
A very slim chance of signing another defensive midfielder remains but it would be dependent on offloading a bunch of names first.
Declan Rice, of West Ham United, has been the No1 target in that area but the East Londoners are not going to let their prized asset leave for anything less than £80million, making it highly unlikely.
Among those almost certain to leave today is Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is in Italy and set to join Napoli on-loan with an option to buy built in.
Centre back Toni Rudiger is also keen to move somewhere he will play regularly having dropped to fifth choice. The Germany international had received interest from Tottenham Hotspur but there is a reluctance to loan a player to such a close rival and he could instead head abroad.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s future is up in the air. Lampard last week left the door open for the England player to head out on loan. But after Ross Barkley’s loan to Aston Villa, there is a chance that he could end up staying until January at least – by which stage so much may have changed.
It seems highly probable that one of Marcos Alonso or Emerson Palmieri will depart and both have been monitored by teams in Serie A, with Antonio Conte’s Internazionale still a possible destination.
Arsenal may be keen on Jorginho but that would be a complex deal to complete and the Italian is back in favour so far this season.
A number of players not even in the coronavirus testing bubble will be trying to find new clubs, too, including Victor Moses, Baba Rahman, Jake Clarke-Salter and Danny Drinkwater. Again, loans appear more likely but, as ever on deadline day, rule nothing out between now and 11pm.
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