Chelsea Open Talks With Arsenal Target Demba Ba

Despite the transfer window being closed, there is always transfer gossip doing the rounds in the papers and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest news during the coming months. Today, more on the future of Demba Ba.

Representatives of Newcastle striker Demba Ba are due to hold talks with Chelsea tonight ahead of a potential £7m move when the transfer window re-opens next month, according to Sky Sports.

Ba has been in superb form this year and scored his 13th goal of the season against Arsenal on Saturday. Sky Sports report that the Gunners, Tottenham and Chelsea are all interested in the Senegalese hitman – who has a £7m buy-out clause in his contract that will become active on January 1st.

However, the report claims that the European champions have moved into pole position to land the 27-year-old with Ba’s representatives set to hold talks with the West London outfit on Sunday night over a potential move next month.

The Daily Mail claim that Chelsea are on the look-out for a replacement for Daniel Sturridge, who is said to be on the verge of a £12m move to Liverpool, and they are understood to have turned their attention to Ba after being told they will have to wait till the summer to have any chance of signing long-term target Radamel Falcao.

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A move to Stamford Bridge would represent a huge opportunity for Ba but where would he fit in? It’s unlikely he’ll start ahead of Fernando Torres and he isn’t comfortable playing in the wide positions, so it’s difficult to see him featuring in Rafa Benitez’ first-choice eleven.

Should he end up moving to Chelsea, Ba is likely to be nothing more than back-up for Torres so you would have to question his motives for moving. Surely he’s more likely to get game-time at Arsenal or Tottenham? Although Arsene Wenger seems to have found himself a new striker in Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud is settling well after a difficult start to life in north London, so maybe Ba would also find himself on the bench if he moved to the Emirates.

At Tottenham, he would have to contend with Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor. Defoe has been a regular under Andre Villas-Boas, so if Ba moved to Spurs it’s likely he’d fight it out with Adebayor for a first-team place to start alongside the England striker.

While his talent is unquestioned, making the move to a top-four club is never guaranteed to work out and if he does end up leaving St James’ Park for one of London’s top clubs, Ba may have to put up with spending more time on the bench than he’s used to at Newcastle.

Would you like to see Ba at your club next month? Get involved in the comments section below.