Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink dismissed reports that midfielder Cesc Fabregas will be leaving the club during the January transfer window.
The Spain international has failed to rediscover the form he displayed in his stellar debut season with the Blues, with the 28-year-old registering 19 assists as Chelsea comfortably won the Premier League title.
Fabregas, who has failed to score in the 18 league appearances this season, has been linked with a move to Italian sides Juventus and Inter Milan amid reports Hiddink favours a more defensive shape to his midfield.
“We need all the players here until the end of the season. Chelsea are still in a position where we have to improve to get up the table, so we need all our players at the moment,” Hiddink told reporters yesterday ahead of Sunday’s league clash with fifth-placed Crystal Palace. “So we don’t talk about the rumours. Cesc is coming in with a smile, which is what I always like.”
Chelsea have offered Montreal Impact’s Didier Drogba a position on the team’s coaching staff and have held talks with Montreal over the former Blues’ striker.
Drogba role
However, Hiddink said there was no change in the situation regarding the Ivorian taking up the role. “Didier is that rare kind of former player with big status who would be very good for any club to have, especially him because he’s a Chelsea legend,” Hiddink said. “But he has a contract with Montreal at the moment, and we have to respect that also.”
Radamel Falcao’s ineffective loan spell at Chelsea has endured yet another setback after the Colombia forward suffered a relapse of a thigh injury that will keep him on the sidelines until the end of January.
Falcao, who is on a season- long arrangement from Monaco but has scored only once and made a solitary start in the Premier League to date, has not featured for the club since the home defeat by Liverpool at the end of October. Hiddink hoped the injury, sustained on the eve of Chelsea’s Champions League tie against Dynamo Kyiv in November had cleared up last week, only for the 29-year-old to suffer a relapse in a practice game at Cobham over Christmas.
Square one
That has left Falcao back at square one, with weeks of rehab and extensive work on his fitness ahead. “He’s having treatment at the moment but he cannot appear on the pitch. He was out and our medical staff tried to build him up but he had the setback, which is not a positive signal. We hope within 10 days he might be fit again, but not to play.”
Chelsea were always expected to review Falcao’s loan arrangement with Monaco in January – Hiddink claimed there has been no formal contact as yet – particularly with the French club in need of reinforcements to bolster their own ranks, but the London club have made it clear that another of their strikers, Loic Remy, will not be made available in the window.
The Aston Villa manager, Remi Garde, went public yesterday to claim he would attempt to secure his compatriot on loan, describing Remy as a “special” player.
Swansea City, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace have also been monitoring the striker’s availability. But with Chelsea only three points clear of the drop zone and with Diego Costa having proved inconsistent this season, Hiddink will resist the departure of a player who has made only seven league starts since joining from Queens Park Rangers at the start of last season but who is currently suffering from a calf injury.
“First of all, it’s important, in the situation Chelsea are in, that we have the most powerful squad possible,” said the Dutchman, who appeared less than impressed with Garde’s eagerness to make known his interest.
"He's our player and you have to respect where the players are. If you are interested, talk first to the people with whom they are contracted. "– (Guardian Service)
