Influencers Pick the Deadline Day Deals Chelsea Should Hijack

Now it gets exciting. For all the jesting and innuendo, we're entering the final straight for the summer transfer window when, for once, we'll be kept entertained throughout the international break.

That's right, international football is here, but with Thursday being transfer deadline day, club football will still be taking centre stage.

All across Europe agents will be working overtime on deals, trying to get their clients last-minute moves. Players will be on duty with their countries and constantly checking their phones for news, while in boardrooms, panic buttons will be getting hit for one last time this summer.

We can expect the latter to be on the cards at Chelsea. Antonio Conte's squad still looks weak on numbers, despite the Blues being linked with all and sundry this summer. We've heard rumours of multi-million pound spending sprees, but with four days remaining, we're still waiting to see Chelsea make a real statement by storming the market.

Plenty of talent has been moved on, with just four new faces in the Chelsea dressing room now. The club has spent around £130 million on Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willy Caballero and Antonio Rudiger.

With the sales of Bertrand Traore, Nathan Ake and Nemanja Matic among many this summer—not to mention Oscar's £60 million move to Shanghai SIPG in January 2017—Chelsea's net spend in the calendar year actually leaves them just shy of £10 million in profit.

So with the clock counting down, will the club have enough time to complete the business that will help them sustain a challenge for silverware at home and abroad in the Champions League?

There are many names the club are being linked with right now, including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley, per The Telegraph's Matt Law.

But for all the rumours doing the rounds, what deals would Chelsea fans like to see their club hijack on transfer deadline day? We spoke to some Chelsea influencers to get their views.

Brandon Busbee, London Is Blue podcast

Twitter: @LondonBluePod

Deal to hijack: Willian to Barcelona

Julian Finney/Getty Images

For the reasons mentioned above, Chelsea can ill afford to allow any more players to depart this summer, so we begin by looking at the Blues preventing a move of their own, rather than blocking another club's transfer spending.

"Besides hijacking Lionel Messi to Manchester City—which is hard to truly see that as plausible—I would have to say Barcelona's rumoured interest for Willian," says Brandon Busbee from the London Is Blue podcast.

The Willian rumour has been discussed by football journalist Duncan Castles on his The Transfer Window podcast (h/t the Express' James Dickenson).

"The only thing more crippling for Chelsea at this stage than not signing more players would be to let a starting-calibre player leave," Busbee adds.

But far from watching no more Chelsea players depart, he also has his eye on Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, who has been tipped to move to Manchester City by the Daily Star's David Woods (h/t Football Spy for the Mirror).

"If Chelsea could hijack Alexis Sanchez from either staying at Arsenal and wasting his talents or his rumoured transfer to Manchester City, I think an attack that powerful would take a lot of pressure off the midfield and defensive unit," Busbee continued.

"Sanchez, Hazard and Morata would be one of the best attacks in England and very good in the Champions League, too."

David Johnstone, cfcuk fanzine

Twitter: @OnlyAPound

Deal to hijack: Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona

Boris Streubel/Getty Images

From stopping Willian from moving to Barcelona, it seems Chelsea fans have their sights set on keeping the Catalans from strengthening following Neyamr's move to Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

David Johnstone, who edits the popular cfcuk fanzine, believes the club should target Philippe Coutinho, who's said to be ready to make a £148 million move to the Camp Nou, according to Spanish publication Sport (h/t the Daily Star's Colin Harvey).

"I'd love to see," Johnstone explained. "He would give Chelsea something extra in an area of the pitch where the team is low on reinforcements right now.

"We have talent throughout the starting lineup, but in attacking midfield, there is just Pedro, Eden Hazard and Willian. When you consider the season as a whole, there needs to be another player added to that list. We want to compete in the Premier League and also in Europe, so bringing in a player like Coutinho would definitely add strength to allow us to do that."

David Chidgey, Chelsea Fancast podcast

Twitter: @StamfordChidge

Deal to hijack: Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona

Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Coutinho seems to be a popular player at Stamford Bridge, with David Chidge from the Chelsea Fancast podcast another fan who would like to see the Brazilian moving to west London.

His reasons are much less about football compared to fellow Blue Johnstone, however.

"It really would be great, just to wind up Barcelona and Liverpool," he declared. "They've been chasing him for quite a while now, so if we could sweep in there and steal from under their noses, it would be perfect.

"And to have Liverpool's best player signing for Chelsea, it would be even more so."

Given Chelsea's transfer record in recent years, Chidge does have a prediction for how the Coutinho deal could potentially work.

"Obviously we would loan him out to Vitesse Arnhem immediately after spending all that money on him!"

Chelsea HQ

Twitter: Chelsea_HQ

Deal to hijack: Serge Aurier to Tottenham Hotspur

Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

From the tongue-in-cheek move for Coutinho just to annoy rival clubs and their fans, Chelsea HQ suggests a move with more substance.

Serge Aurier has been linked with a transfer from Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham Hotspur in recent weeks, as noted by The Sun's Rebecca Coles, among others, and now Chelsea HQ are hoping the Blues can do what they did in 2013 when stealing Willian from under the noses of their London rivals.

"I still believe Chelsea could do with another option at right wing-back, and his rumoured transfer fee of £23 million is peanuts in today's market," Chelsea HQ explained.

"He can be trouble off the pitch, but he's a class player with plenty of experience and will do well in the Premier League.