Chelsea Transfer News: Landing Demba Ba Would Be Savvy Bit of Business by Blues

"Radamel Falcao! Hulk! Theo Walcott! Spend, spend, spend!"

These are likely the words of most Chelsea fans, eager to see the Blues make a late-season title push and splash some cash to land another star player or two this January.

But there is a far more savvy piece of business to be done involving Newcastle striker Demba Ba, and it appears that Chelsea will wisely pursue that option. From Darren Lewis of The Mirror:

Demba Ba's agents expect talks with Chelsea to resume his week after a hitch in his move to Stamford Bridge.

The Newcastle striker, who has already hit 13 goals this season, is wanted by the Blues but talks broke down yesterday over wages.

Chelsea have offered Ba £70,000-a-week but his representatives see the amount as not much more than the money he is currently on at St James' Park. Ba earns £35,000-a-week basic and £25,000-a-week for appearances.

His people are unhappy that he was not offered any kind of bonus or appearance fee.

Oh, and did I mention his buyout clause is just £7.5 million? For a player scoring goals at such a clip, that's a downright bargain.

Ba has been fantastic for Newcastle this season—really, he's been the only player doing anything for the Magpies—scoring 13 goals in 20 Premier League games. Only Robin van Persie has more in league play this season, with 16.

He would be the perfect backup to Fernando Torres, offering the Spaniard the chance to rest down the stretch or give Blues a late-game, goal-scoring substitution when Torres is off his game.

Alongside any contract hesitations for Ba, however, might be concerns that his playing time will diminish significantly with Chelsea. Torres has 15 goals in 31 appearances for the Blues this season, and is a Rafa Benitez favorite.

Then again, Torres took a seat to Didier Drogba at the end of the season last year. If Ba impresses early and often, he could end up stealing some starts from the Spaniard. It's a win-win for Chelsea—either Ba sparkles and pushes Torres to play better, or at the very least he provides Torres with some much-needed rest.

I think we'll see this move happen. And from both tactical and financial standpoints, it makes a ton of sense.

 

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets really enjoy saying "Demba Ba" aloud. Well, they would if tweets could talk.

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