I'm not sure whether this is news or comedy, and I won't tell you this is the latter in case you don't laugh. Make your own assumptions! Anyway, Eden Hazard, who 'according to reports' had, about a week ago, worked out a deal to join Tottenham Hotspur this summer, is now talking about how much he'd love to join Arsenal. The boy gets around, doesn't he?

There are several clubs that interest me in England and Arsenal is really a part. Of course, it's always more fun when the football is beautiful. In addition, at Arsenal, there is a French coach and French players, as well as my compatriot Thomas Vermaelen.

-Eden Hazard. Source: Foot Sport via ESPN Soccernet.

At this point I think it's pretty clear that Hazard has narrowed his field down to the top tier of Premier League teams and having done so is yet to make a decision. And what better way of amusing yourself when you've yet to decide where you're ending up than by throwing little morsels to the football media, who'll fight over every crumb like so many ravenous seagulls*?

*Hopefully nobody loses an eye to a beak jab. Seagulls can be vicious little bastards.

We know a few things. Hazard is leaving LOSC in the summer. He's coming to the Premier League. He wants to play for a top team, he wants regular starts and we can assume he also wants to be paid like a minor prince. Until Lille actually start talking to teams though, we have no idea which one of the top six sides he'll end up on, and his rather coy hints as to his destination appear to be mostly for his own amusement. So don't take the Hazard rumours seriously until the summer, ok? No more freaking out?

Is Eden Hazard bound for Tottenham Hotspur? A rumour to that effect is making the rounds today, and although I don't believe it in the slightest, it's worth commenting on:

Désireux de rejoindre la Premier League en fin de saison, Eden Hazard a jeté son dévolu sur Tottenham. Selon nos informations, l'international belge de 21 ans s'est mis d'accord avec le club londonien, qui correspond à ses aspirations, puisqu'il participera sans doute à la prochaine Ligue des champions.

Hitting the Google Translate machine gives us:

Wishing to join the Premier League end of season, Eden Hazard has set his sights on Tottenham. Reportedly, the Belgian international has 21 years of age agreed with the London club, which meets their aspirations, since it probably will participate in the next Champions League.

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Sometime the media takes quotes out of context and seems to run with them, but Andre Villas-Boas seems to believe that Neymar will not be making his way to Stamford Bridge this summer. While attending the Lareus World Sports Awards on Monday evening AVB was quoted with the following:

I think the Neymar matter is closed and locked in a safe. He has decided his future and no-one knows where he will go. Unfortunately he will not come to us.

That really doesn't leave much doubt on several fronts. AVB seems to be a fan of the player and we're certainly still interested as a club. So it does appear that Neymar himself seems to prefer a move elsewhere, and one would have to assume that somewhere is in Spain.

While I'm personally a bit disappointed in this news, I'm certainly very open to quite a few other options on our wings. I think it's fairly obvious that we're still interested in several elite young players this summer with slightly smaller price tags, so hopefully the Spanish teams will have less interest in those players now and give us an easier negotiation in acquiring their services. Either way, Neymar is one name that we can seemingly cross off of our wish list for the time being.

There's an interesting little tidbit buried at the bottom of a Guardian article this morning. According to the Guardian, Chelsea have agree'd to a deal with Brøndby for Danish U17 star Andreas Christensen. We were reportedly close to signing him a few months ago, and if the quote form the player in question is to be believed we have completed his signing over the weekend:

I have chosen Chelsea because they play the kind of football I like. They have the best plan for my future in football.

With all the criticism that the academy has been receiving on the failure to produce top flight players in recent years it is good to see us being viewed in such high regard by Europe's top youngsters. Christensen will join what is rapidly becoming the most highly touted U18 squad in Europe over the summer, and while we won't be seeing him in the Chelsea first team at any point soon, we'll certainly benefit from the additional depth. We do seem to have a glut of young talent now in the center of the defense, but that seems to be a very nice problem to have indeed. All in all, it's another good day for the Chelsea youth system.

It's been a grand total of one day since the close of the Janaury transfer window, so naturally it's time for this summer's hot sexy Chelsea transfer rumours to start appearing. That's right - it's Willian time. The Shakhtar Donetsk winger was the subject of at least one bid from Chelsea in January but ultimately didn't make the move to Stamford Bridge at which point I think we all assumed that any chance of him ever donning a Blues shirt had evaporated.

However, there are some very odd quotes out of FC Santos which would seem to imply that this is not entirely true:

Desistimos devido uma proposta que eles (Shakhtar) receberam do Chelsea. Foi uma oferta de dezenas de milhões de euros. Parece que ele deve ir para lá no meio do ano. Tentamos por empréstimo até o final do ano, mas não deu certo

-Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, Santos President. Source: UOL Esporte.

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Compared to summer and last year, this January was a relatively quiet one. That said, the Blues still got plenty of business done, so let's review.

IN: Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers, £7M), Kevin de Bruyne (Genk, £6.7-£8M), Kenneth Omeruo (Standard Liege, unknown), Patrick Bamford (Nottingham Forest, £1.5M).

OUT: Nicolas Anelka (Shanghai Shenhua, undisclosed), Alex (Paris Saint-Germain, £4.2M) Kevin de Bruyne (Genk, season loan), Josh McEachran (Swansea City, season loan), Gael Kakuta (Dijon, season loan), Patrick van Aanholt (Vitesse, season loan), Milan Lalkovic (ADO den Haag, season loan), Kenneth Omeruo (ADO den Haag, 18 month loan), Phillip Prosenik (AC Milan, undisclosed), Rhys Taylor (Rotherham, season loan), Kaby Djalo (AEL Lissamol, undisclosed).

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Back by request, it's your open thread for deadline day madness. Have fun!

We knew this was coming, but now it's official. 18 year old former Nottingham Forrest striker Patrick Bamford has signed with Chelsea FC. This is definitely one for the future and really fits in with the general theme of this January's transfer window. It's fairly unlikely that Bamford will immediately head out on loan as he's likely still going to benefit from some time in the reserves. I'd also guess that he'll be looking forward to training with his new teammates at Cobham.

Bamford joins Kevin de Bruyne, Kenneth Omeruo, and Gary Cahill as Chelsea's January class. While Cahill is likely the only one of the three that will make any sort of immediate impact (if he ever plays), this group is loaded with low risk upper end talent that could eventually look like incredible purchases. Then again, Bamford may be able to step into our first team on Sunday and put in a better performance then what we saw from Fernando Torres today. Welcome to Chelsea Patrick, we'll be following your career closely.