Chelsea close in on Luis Fabiano

Chelsea's hunt for a headline grabbing January purchase is focusing in on Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano after a deal to try and bring Andrei Arshavin to London hit the buffers. Brazilian Fabiano is a more direct player and has 64 goals in 131 appearances for his club, and 14 in 23 for Brazil. Spurs spent most of the summer trying to lure Arshavin, the Russian playmaker to starred in Euro 2008, to England but failed - and it appears that Chelsea have also had to accept defeat. But by choosing a striker over a creative midfielder like Arshavin, Luiz Felipe Scolari will add fuel to rumours about the future of Didier Drogba, who is still being linked with a move to Inter Milan and his old mentor Jose Mourinho.

TRANSFER TALK: CHELSEA

LAST UPDATED 11:39 AM, DECEMBER 19, 2008