Chelsea face double West Ham transfer raid and Enzo Maresca could allow it

Chelsea could face a January transfer raid from Premier League rivals West Ham with Julen Lopetegui's side looking to make the most of two Blues stars being out of favour at Stamford Bridge.

The Telegraph reports that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka have been added to a shortlist of targets for the Hammers this month. West Ham have lacked bite in midfield this term, despite the arrival of Carlos Soler and Guido Rodriguez this summer, struggling to protect the back four and create chances going forward.

There are big question marks over Lopetegui's future at the London Stadium with reports this week suggesting that the manager could be dismissed before the next Premier League game against Fulham. However, the club's need for an active January window remains.

West Ham interest in Chelsea duo

Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio are sidelined through injury with no plans to recall James Ward-Prowse from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest. Dewsbury-Hall and Chukwuemeka could be viewed as ideal short-term acquisitions during the window.

The Telegraph does report that loan moves for those Chelsea players would be preferable for West Ham, but that permanent transfers could be on the cards should funds be raised through player sales.

Chelsea only signed Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City for £30 million last summer, bringing the midfielder to Stamford Bridge to reunite with Enzo Maresca after a thoroughly impressive Championship campaign last time out. The midfielder plundered 12 goals and 14 assists in the second tier.

The 26-year-old has played just 55 minutes in the Premier League this season, coming across five tiny cameos from the bench. His last appearance came against Southampton at the start of December.

Meanwhile, Chukwuemeka arrived at Chelsea from Aston Villa in 2022 for £20 million. He was used regularly by Mauricio Pochettino when not injured last season, scoring against West Ham in the second match of the campaign, but has not played for the Blues in the league this season.

Enzo Maresca hints at January exits

Speaking to the media in December, Chelsea boss Maresca hinted that Chukwuemeka could be given the green light to leave the club. He said: "There are players that unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions like Chilwell, like Carney.

"Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games. If they don’t play games probably they are thinking of leaving.

‘Each player is a bit different situation, so we’re going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say, “I want to leave”, or something like that. It depends and we will try to find a solution."

It was a similar message about Dewsbury-Hall. Maresca said: "Unfortunately, I cannot say that [he will stay], not about Kiernan, about all the squad, because when the transfer window is open, unfortunately, anything can happen.

"So I'm not focused on January, the only thing I can say about Kiernan is that we are very happy in the way he's working, we are very happy about his performance, and this is my thought about Kiernan."