Chelsea’s approach to the January transfer window will not be altered by Michael Emenalo’s surprise departure from the club this week.

That means the Blues will continue with their efforts to try to sign a target man striker and will try again to sign Ross Barkley, even though he turned them down in the summer and Tottenham Hotspur regard themselves as favourites to land the midfielder.

A new offer for Alex Sandro is more likely to be made next summer, with Juventus unlikely to sell the left-back in January and sources at Stamford Bridge pointing out that Chelsea rarely do big business mid-season.

Chelsea have been clear on their priorities for January for some weeks now, before Emenalo decided that he would formally step down from his position as technical director during this international break.

Much of the potential business is centred on deals Chelsea failed to complete in the summer, having missed out on moves for Fernando Llorente, who preferred to join Tottenham, and Barkley.