Chelsea News: £29m move for Brazil ace, Oscar January exit, huge £40m Stones exclusive

Jose Mourinho has changed his tune on Claudio Ranieri

 

NEWS NEWS BLOG brings you the latest from Stamford Bridge.

 

Chelsea face Leicester tonight in a bid to steer themselves away from the drop zone.

After wins from Bournemouth and Newcastle this weekend the Blues have slipped even closer to the bottom three.

Jose Mourinho's side are now just a point above Norwich with Leicester able to go back to the top with a win tonight.

 

And the Portuguese has changed his tune on Claudio Ranieri.

“I think Claudio has won manager of the month – I think he should win more than that,” Mourinho said on Friday.

“I think he should be made manager of the half-term, if that existed in football. If you could give an award for the first six months of competition, everybody is miles away from him. And every club is miles away from what Leicester is doing.

“I know the difference between Leicester and Manchester United, Arsenal is a difference of two or three points but Leicester are the ones who deserve all this respect and all these compliments. Fantastic work.”

 

But now things are beginning to heat up in the transfer market with the window just a few weeks away.

News News Blog Sport can exclusively reveal that Chelsea will go back in for John Stones in January.

The Blues will start the bidding at £40million and Mourinho has the support of owner Roman Abramovich, who agrees that Stones could be pivotal in getting Chelsea out of the Premier League hole that they're in.

Mourinho also hopes that another bid would encourage the player himself to pressure Everton to allow him to move.

 

United were reported to have made Stones their No.1 target for the summer, so it seems Chelsea are hoping to get in first.

The Blues are likely to miss out on Champions League football next season, unless they win this year's competition, so are keen to bolster their squad early for a title charge.

However Mourinho will have to fend off interest from Juventus in Oscar, according to reports.

Oscar, Chelsea's 24-year-old midfielder, has a difficult relationship with Mourinho.

 

Oscar is wanted by Juventus and could make a £29million bid

The Brazil star found himself on the bench earlier in the season and Mourinho appeared annoyed with him on occasions.

However the Serie A Champions are ready to offer £29million to seal his services, according to Fichajes in Spain.

And finally Chelsea have been told to stump up £28.9m for Alex Teixeira if they want him in January and £36m if they want him in the summer.

News News Blog Sport revealed Teixeira was on Chelsea's radar last month with Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy struggling for form.