Chelsea transfer rumours Oct 25th 2009 – Hamsik, Van Der Vaart and the Hulk!

Despite the transfer ban, Chelsea are continually being linked with several players, even more so now that they have asked for the ban to be suspended pending the appeal.

Ray Wilkins added fuel to the fire when he told the press that Chelsea would be looking for cover during the African Nations Cup if the ban gets suspended.

He said: “We are naturally concerned about the quality of the players we will be losing. Any team in the country would miss four players of the calibre of Drogba, Essien, Kalou and Mikel. There are certainly a few names out there that Carlo would like to sign.”

Today’s first big rumour is served up by the Sunday Times, who claim that the Blues are chasing the Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik.

The 22-year-old Slovakian international is considered one of Serie A’s top midfielders and was surprisingly Napoli’s top scorer for the last two seasons. He has already scored five goals in eight games this season, so he is certainly consistent. Considering his record and his age, he could be an absolute snip at just £18m.

The Times also suggests that Real Madrid have offered Chelsea the Dutch international Rafael Van Der Vaart. The 26 year-old is desperate to get some first team football or risk missing out on going to the World Cup with his country. And as Real Madrid are also desperate to get his wasted wages of their books, he is probably being offered to every team in Europe!

The Daily Express thinks that Chelsea and Man Utd are both interested in the Brazilian striker Givanildo Vieira de Souza, (known to his friends as Hulk!) who is currently playing at Porto.

Ancelotti had a good look at him when Chelsea beat the Portugese Champions 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the opening Champions League match this season, but apparently Porto have told them that he will cost a stunning 100m euros (£86m).

The 23 year-old has scored 9 goals in 30 appearances for Porto, and has played some good games for his club in the Champions League, but he hasn’t yet been picked for Brazil, and it is a lot easier to score goals in Portugal (if you play for Porto!) than it would be in the Premiership, so that price would have to come down considerably before he would be worth considering.

I think i’d rather have Hamsik anyway.