No other Premier League club has stirred the waters as ferociously this transfer window than Chelsea. Christian Pulisic, Gonzalo Higuain, and Leandro Paredes: these are the names that have dominated headlines since the start of the New Year.
But as much as Chelsea fans have been clamouring to see which new faces are arriving at Stamford Bridge, there has also had a fair amount of interest in who will be departing West London.
Cesc Fabregas has so far been the highest profile name to leave, joining former teammate Thierry Henry at Monaco where the Frenchman has been managing since taking over from Leonardo Jardim, and it had been expected that Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi would be joining him on loan in the near future.
However, it seems now that Chelsea have put a stop to that short-term deal, with The Sun reporting that the Blues are unwilling to part with the forward on yet another loan deal and want to permanently cut their losses on the player they spent £33 million on from Olympique de Marseille two and a half years ago.
Batshuyai has failed to find his feet in the regimes of both Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri, making a little more than 50 sporadic appearances, usually off the bench, and netting just 19 times.
The 25-year-old was recalled from Valencia by his parent club last week, with a move back over to Ligue 1 to join up with Les Monegasques speculated.
The move looks increasingly dubious, with Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev stating that:
"We have an agreement with the player and with Valencia, but for the moment things are blocked with Chelsea.
"They are more interested in doing a transfer (than a loan) for the moment.
"Everything can go quickly in football but for the moment it is blocked.”
Monaco are desperate to burgeon their ranks to climb out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone, just a season after finishing second to champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Unfortunately for the time being, Batshuayi will have to wait a little longer to join up with former teammate Fabregas over in France.
