Chelsea fans didn't get the new year's gift they were hoping for after a drab 1-1 draw against relegation threatened Nottingham Forest. It means that Graham Potter has not recorded back-to-back league wins since October and his first three games in charge, as the gap to the top four opens up to seven points.
Erling Haaland has still scored more goals than the entire squad combined and pressure is mounting ahead of a tough January fixture list that will be navigated without Reece James available. The saving grace throughout this period is that the transfer window is open once more and new signings can be made.
Todd Boehly has continued to act quickly in the recruitment department, moving to seal a deal for 20-year-old David Datro Fofana whilst Benoit Badiashile is expected to have his medical this week ahead of a proposed £32.7million move from Monaco. Christopher Nkunku has already agreed to join at the end of the season.
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There is still plenty more to be done though with competition for James required on top of a midfielder and potentially an extra attacker too. One of the deals that will be most in the spotlight is a transfer for Enzo Fernandez, though. The 21-year-old has been heavily pushed for since he won the World Cup with Argentina and a deal isn't thought to be too far away.
The Benfica midfielder has a €120million (£106million) release clause that football.london understands Chelsea are keen to press on with paying in order to get a deal done quickly and ahead of the competition. With it now seemingly being a one-horse race to get this over the line, Chelsea will be keen to get a move on.
Manchester City are up next on January 5 and then the Blues play Pep Guardiola's men again in the FA Cup just days later. With a worrying lack of presence against Forest, the midfield looks to be the most pressing area for attention and there are faint hopes that Fernandez could join before the end of the week.
In order to be registered to face Manchester City on Thursday, things would have to move at lightening speed, though. According to Premier League rules the deadline for signing a player and having them play is '12 noon on the last working day before the date of the first league match in which the club making the application intends him to play.'
This means that Fernandez has until Wednesday at 12pm to sign for Chelsea if they want him to play against City.
Rules go on to say, "save that the international transfer certificate and evidence of eligibility to take up employment in the United Kingdom (in both cases if applicable) may be provided thereafter (but must be provided before the player is eligible to play for a club in a league match)."
There are still so big steps to finalise before this can become a reality and it isn't a likely first game for the midfielder, the FA Cup game may also come too soon with things needing to be wrapped up by 12pm on Friday for that.
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