Ross Barkley has impressed for Aston Villa since moving to the West Midlands on loan from the Blues in the summer.

Barkley has two goals and an assist in just five Premier League games for the Villans

When Villa boss Dean Smith was asked about a potential permanent transfer, he hold Birmingham Live:

Smith said: “It’s not been discussed. The idea was to bring him on loan.

“He’s a Chelsea player and they’ve got a long-term contract with him. That’s one Johan (Lange) and the owners will speak about.”

Chelsea legend John Terry has criticised his former team-mate Andreas Christensen for his part in Aston Villa’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw on Monday evening.

The Blues had taken the lead through Olivier Giroud before Aston Villa – who have Terry as their assistant manager – equalised through Anwar El Ghazi in the second half.

There had been calls by Chelsea fans that the goal should have been disallowed for a coming together involving Christensen and Jack Grealish in the build-up

After the match Terry posted a video on Instagram saying that it was great to be back at Stamford Bridge and lauded “another great performance” from his Aston Villa side – just 48 hours after a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Terry got a response to his post which said: ‘You’d have been raging at that equaliser John. The sporting side of this game has disappeared.’

The Aston Villa assistant manager provided a simple response to the comment as he said: “He (Christensen) should have got up”.

While Christensen stayed on the ground, Grealish was back on his feet and played a ball through to Matty Cash, who found El Ghazi on the back post for the equaliser.

The outcome could potentially have been different if Christensen had been back in the box as full-back Cesar Azpilicueta was dragged in-field by Grealish when Cash put the cross in, leaving El Ghazi unmarked.

Diego Costa has officially left Atletico Madrid as a free agent following the termination of his contract.

The statement was released on Tuesday morning which confirmed that the striker had requested his release and the club had agreed.

Aged 32, Costa has fallen from prominence at Atleti in recent times following the summer arrival of Luis Suarez from Barcelona, who is now the preferred central striker alongside Joao Felix in attack.

According to Football Espana, whilst personal reasons are the official reason for Costa wanting a move, his primary concern is a lack of first-team football and would want guarantees at his next club.

A report in El Mundo on Monday claimed that Los Rojiblancos only allowed the experienced striker to leave the club under the premise that he would not join a rival club.

Costa would reportedly be fined €25m if he joined one of those three rival Spanish clubs, or €5m if he joined another side still in Europe’s elite club competition, while if he moves elsewhere then Atleti would pay him the remaining €3.2m of his contract.

Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa is reportedly on his way to Arsenal if reports in Spain and England are true.

The reports claim Arsenal are plotting a swoop to sign former Chelsea striker Diego Costa on a free transfer next month.

The 32-year-old is out of contract in June but Atletico Madrid are willing to rip his deal up early to get him off the wage bill.

The Wanda Metropolitano are said to be favourable towards Costa’s request, due to his eight years of service over three spells.

However, they will not consider selling him to a direct rival either in Spain or Europe.

Spanish outlet AS claim Mikel Arteta is watching Costa’s situation with keen interest as he looks to bring him back to London.

The Gunners want to bolster their attacking options following their miserable start to the campaign.

And Arteta is eyeing the possibility of re-uniting Costa with his ex-Chelsea team-mate Willian at the Emirates.

With Costa keen to continue in a top league, that’s where Arsenal come into the picture.

The Gunners are in the bottom half of the Premier League and competing in the Europa League.

Therefore they are not likely to meet Atleti in European competition for at least 18 months.

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has stated Jorginho must change his penalty run-up after missing his spot-kick against Arsenal.

The Blues midfielder has now missed three spot-kicks this term, and Leboeuf believes now is the time to adopt a new style.

He told ESPN: “He [Jorginho] has to stop that. When you do that and you score, everybody is going to say ‘Wow it’s nice, a good trick’.

“But when the goalkeeper stops it, you look like a fool.

“Don’t play with the goalkeepers. Shoot [it low and hard] and it’s going to be alright.”

Bertrand Traore has spoken of his excitement at returning to Stamford Bridge with Aston Villa today.

The Burkina Faso international gave Aston Villa a fifth-minute lead in the Boxing Day win over Crystal Palace.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Traore said: “I can’t wait to be back there and to play against Chelsea. I think it’s going to be nice.

“I know a couple of players over there that I’ve played with. It will be nice to see them again. It will be a bit strange there without the fans.

“It’s going to be a tough game. Chelsea is an opponent that have a lot of quality in their team.

“These kinds of games, we just have to enjoy it, play to our fullest and fight for the three points.”

Photo Credit: AVFCOfficial/Twitter

Cristiano Ronaldo says he doesn’t like his son to drink coke and eat crisps: “But I won’t pressure him to become a footballer.”

The Juventus striker has won the Globe Soccer Awards’ Player of the Century on Sunday and spoke to reporters after the award ceremony.

“We’ll see if my son will become a great footballer,” he said, according to A Bola as cited by Football Italia.

“Sometimes he drinks coke and eats crisps and it irritates me, he knows that,” the Portuguese star added.

“Sometimes I tell my son to take a dip in cold water to recover after a run on the treadmill and he says: ‘Dad, it’s so cold there.’ That’s fine, he is only 10-year-old.”

Cristiano Junior, 10, is playing in the Juventus academy.

“I always tell him that it takes work and dedication to have success,” Ronaldo continued.

“I won’t pressure him to become a footballer, but I would like it. The most important thing is to become the best in his field, whether it is football or medicine.”

Aston Villa star Jack Grealish jokingly branded Bukayo Saka as a ‘liar’ after the Arsenal ace claimed he meant his lobbed goal against Chelsea.

The 19-year-old put his side 3-0 up against the Blues at the Emirates on Boxing Day after his cross-shot looped over Blues shot-stopper Edouard Mendy.

There was much debate as to whether the teenager meant it, but Saka insisted that his strike was no fluke.

Taking to social media, he tweeted: “Saw him off his line!”

To which his England international team-mate Grealish quipped: “Ur (sic) to funny man! Liar.”

Senior Arsenal stars are reportedly hoping to see Mesut Ozil recalled to the team in January.

Mikel Arteta has not played the German since March having dropped him from the 25-man squads allowed to play in the Premier League and Europa League.

Amid his exile, Ozil has continued to train with the first-team.

But his treatment is said to be a driving force behind a dressing room divide, also caused by the handling of Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ removal from the squad.

According to the Telegraph, there is no dressing room consensus over seeing the 32-year-old given a fresh chance.

A group of senior players are described as keen to see Ozil return.

Next month, Arteta can update his league and European squad quotas.

Should Ozil fail to make the cut, it will finally spell the end of his career with the club.

Erling Braut Haaland has dropped a huge hint that could he snub Manchester United in favour of Chelsea.

The Blues manager Frank Lampard has made Borussia Dortmund striker his next target, according to reports.

Sky Italia claim the Blues boss has already informed Chelsea transfer chief Marina Granovskaia of his request.

The striker has been linked to both of the Premier League clubs following his impressive spell for Borussia Dortmund.

During a Q&A, Haaland was asked which player he’d want to have to played with that is now retired.

And he simply replied: “Frank Lampard.”

Haaland, 20, has scored 17 goals in just 14 appearances for Dortmund this season.

The Norway international’s contract in Germany reportedly contains a £68million release clause but that will only activate in 2022.