Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Moussa Dembele Rumours, Blues Deadline-Day Talk

Chelsea target Moussa Dembele has sparked rumours he is closing in on a move to Stamford Bridge by travelling to London on transfer deadline day. 

According to Dave Fraser in The Sun (h/t Sky Sports News HQ's Kaveh Solhekol), Blues boss Antonio Conte is weighing up a £30 million bid for the Celtic striker, but the Scottish champions said he is only in London for a scan on a potential knee injury:

Dembele, 20, only moved to Celtic from Fulham in the summer, and he has caught the eye with 17 goals in all competitions in 2016-17, including three in six in the UEFA Champions League, per WhoScored.com.

According to Dominic Fifield and Ewan Murray of the Guardian, Celtic are unlikely to sell Dembele in the current transfer window, and Chelsea may "choose to rekindle interest in [him] in the summer window, when [the Hoops] may be more receptive to a bid for a player who cost them only £500,000."

Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

Fraser added that Chelsea's interest in the French forward stems from them being "desperate to add some extra firepower" to their squad, with Sky Italia reporting Torino's Andrea Belotti could be an alternative target.

Diego Costa has been the undisputed starting No. 9 for Chelsea this season and rightly so, as he has netted 15 goals and provided five assists in 20 appearances, per WhoScored.com.

However, the cover Conte has available for the prolific 28-year-old is limited.

Michy Batshuayi is Costa's obvious like-for-like replacement, but Conte has seemed reluctant to use the £33 million summer signing in the league despite his fine form in cup competitions, per Squawka:

For the two Premier League games this season that Costa has not played, Eden Hazard has replaced him in the starting lineup as a false nine.

Both Dembele and Belotti, 23, are exciting young prospects—the latter has scored 14 goals and assisted on three in 19 appearances in Serie A this season, per WhoScored.

There is no guarantee that Costa will remain at Chelsea past the end of the 2016-17 season after he nearly departed for Atletico Madrid last year, per Kieran Gill of the Daily Mail.

If Conte does not trust Batshuayi to fill Costa's boots then it is no surprise he is looking for added cover, but Chelsea will have to act fast if they are to make a key acquisition so late in the January transfer window.