Ladies and gentlemen, the January transfer window is now upon us. First of all, Happy New Year, but let's get down to the real business - over 30 days of transfer-related action and fun (if that is the sort of thing you are into).

Chelsea are sitting in fourth-place in the Premier League table at exactly the midway point of the 2024/25 season, surpassing pre-season expectations at the moment. The Blues have lost their last two matches with back-to-back defeats at the hands of Fulham and Ipswich Town - which left a sour taste in fans' mouths to conclude 2024; but the reality is they are way ahead of schedule under Enzo Maresca.

The club's hierarchy has acknowledged exactly this and are understood to be very happy with the current crop of players at Stamford Bridge. That is why, football.london understands, there is not expected to be too much action on the incoming front throughout the month with the board not wanting to disrupt the tools Maresca already has at his disposal.

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That said, however, the club will act if they deem it necessary - and as we have seen under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, they are not afraid to throw big money at a player they believe is essential to the Blues' on-pitch development. The issue with the January transfer window, though, is that players' prices tend to become inflated with clubs desperate not to lose their star men midway through the season.

Chelsea are, however, expected to conduct business elsewhere this month with eight players being linked with a move away in recent weeks. Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka do not feature in Maresca's plans at the moment and both have been told they can leave the club if they want to play regular football.

There has been plenty of criticism of Axel Disasi this season but football.london understands the Blues are not desperate to sell the 26-year-old Frenchman. With the defender offering cover in both right-back and in the centre of defence, the club are not actively looking to offload him halfway through the season, although if the right offer did come their way, they would find it difficult to turn it down.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is said to be frustrated with the lack of football he has been getting since making the move from Leicester City last summer. The 26-year-old midfielder has even been linked with a swift return to the King Power Stadium, but like Disasi, Chelsea would be happy to keep him at the club.

Marc Guiu's situation is a bit bizarre. The 18-year-old remains very highly-rated at Chelsea but with only one Premier League appearance to his name - a 23-minute cameo in the opening weekend against Manchester City - the Spaniard might wonder where his next minutes are going to come from.

Guiu has been a star for Chelsea in their UEFA Conference League campaign thus far but the Blues do not play another European match until March. There is the FA Cup - that begins later this month for Chelsea - where Guiu could get minutes but there is a decision for the club to make on whether or not his development may be better served elsewhere on a loan deal.

Likewise, Cesare Casadei has interest from Italy with Monza and Torino both expressing their keenness in recent weeks. Casadei is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season for the Blues but has been an ever-present figure in the Conference League.

Two youth players in Deivid Washington and Harvey Vale are expected to leave Chelsea this month. Whether that is on loan in Washington's case remains to be seen, but sources have told football.london that Vale expects to depart Chelsea for good after his permanent move to Saudi Arabia collapsed in the summer.