Chelsea and Demba Ba were meeting this morning to discuss personal terms and complete a medical ahead of his 7 million pound move from Newcastle, but it appears that Chelsea are making sure they are as thorough as possible when examining Ba's chronic knee issues. According to David Ornstein of the BBC:

After starting medical & talks at Stamford Bridge this morning, Ba had more tests at Chelsea training ground in afternoon #bbcfootball #cfc

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) January 3, 2013

Ba and Chelsea reportedly agreed to a 3-1/2 year deal without too many complications, but the fact that the medical has been going on for so long could probably be taken as either a good or a bad thing. On one hand, things obviously aren't great with the knee if Chelsea are still examining it. On the other, the club ought to have a firm grasp on exactly what they are dealing with should they eventually complete the signing.

I'd still expect to hear some sort of confirmation on whether or not Ba will be joining today, but it no longer appears to be as much of a foregone conclusion as it did earlier. Here's hoping that the club is comfortable enough with what they find to finalize the move, as he's a heck of a player when healthy.