After almost a decade at Stamford Bridge Branislav Ivanovic will be used to hearing London Calling every time he plays in the capital, but this the week the Serbia defender has learned The Clash had more than one song. “Should I stay or should I go?”
Ivanovic is determined to stay at Chelsea and fight his way into Antonio Conte’s three-man defence having not started since the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, prompting the manager to change his formation. They have won every game since, crucially keeping a clean sheet in all four. However, Crystal Palace are said to have firm interest in the 32-year-old and come January who is to say his mind will not have changed. “If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double,” he maybe did not say.
Not content with sharing a win apiece in the Champions League (though the aggregate would be 5-3), Barcelona and Manchester City are fighting it out to sign Yerry Mina, a 22-year-old defender at Palmeiras. He will cost a little under £10m and Barça are understood to have first call but on last night’s evidence both could do with reinforcements at the back.
José Mourinho, concerned by the injury sustained to Eric Bailly and the deficiencies of his other centre-halves, is lining up a €50m bid for the Atlético Madrid centre-back José Giménez. The 21-year-old Uruguayan has not been finding life at the Calderón plain sailing, failing to get back into Diego Simeone’s team after an injury in September.
Sticking with defenders, reports in Germany suggest Schalke’s Sead Kolasinac is being courted by Chelsea, Liverpool and West Brom. That should be a no brainer for the 23-year-old left-back: a move to join notoriously wing-back shy Tony Pulis at The Hawthorns. Across the channel there are suggestions that Marseille’s Maxime López is being eyed by Liverpool and Palace, while Jürgen Klopp’s team are also considering a bid for the Ipswich teenager Andre Dozzell in January.