Chelsea to bid Luis Fabiano

There is speculation that the forward Chelsea would like to sign in January is Sevilla`s Luis Fabiano. Who is Brazilian, like our coach.

Chelsea are short up front. Over the summer, we lost Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro, and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Of course, Chelsea were due to sign Robinho, we forget exactly what happened there. Now we are without Didier Drogba, who no sooner returned from injury (possibly faster than he should have done) than he returned to the sickbay.

So our coach, Phil Scolari, has indicated that he would like to dip in the transfer market in January. There is now strong speculation that the chosen forward will be Luis Fabiano, the rather fine striker currently plying his trade at Sevilla.

That`s what the Times said over the weekend, and that`s what some of the Spanish press is revealing, with Scolari apparently asking Roman Abramovich for reinforcements. Drogba is potentially out for at least a month, but his full recovery could last longer. Of course, Nicolas Anelka is still fit, even he was withdrawn as a precaution at half-time yesterday, and he is a doubt for France`s next international game. That doesn`t leave very many options.

Apparently Luis Fabiano is available for a price that, for Chelsea, is cheap. The player has signed a new contract with Sevilla until 2011. This contract contains a buy-out clause that is unusually low €17 million. This clause only applies for sales between Spanish clubs, but various sources are suggesting that Chelsea could offer €30 million.

Is this likely? The very mention of his name suggests that this is a deal being considered, since the player has just prolonged his contract at Sevilla. Whilst he is well paid at Sevilla, he would be even better paid at Chelsea. The problem is that he is at Sevilla, a club run by José Maria Del Nido, who is a mentalist when it comes to negotiating. Chelsea will remember fondly the problems they had discussing with Del Nido for Daniel Alves, discussions that simply broke down as the Sevilla president kept changing the terms of any deal. Any number of other clubs who have tried to buy Sevilla players also know that we are talking about a club President up there with Lyon`s Jean-Michel Aulas or the unholy coven at Real Madrid.

That said, Luis Fabiano is a forward who would enhance any side. He`s going to be 28 next month, and at the height of his powers. Last season, which was difficult for Sevilla, he nevertheless scored a total of 34 goals, and was La Liga`s second highest goalscorer. He`s also broken into the Brazilian national team, most recently scoring 2 in a World Cup qualifier against Chile (a match that Brazil won 0-3). An idea of his potency is that he has 40 League goals in 80 appearances since he joined Sevilla in 2005.

Sevilla were in the Champions League last season, this year they have to make do with the UEFA Cup. That would mean that he would be eligible to play for Chelsea in Europe`s top club competition.

Fabiano is truly a force to be reckoned with. But will he really be at Chelsea in January? Here`s hoping.