Chelsea turned down chance to sign former Newcastle forward

Chelsea rejected the chance to sign former Newcastle striker Salomon Rondon from Dalian Yifang on deadline day, reports The Telegraph's Matt Law. 

The Blues were courting a new striker as the window edged towards closing and had been tracking Dries Mertens and Edinson Cavani or Napoli and PSG, respectively. 

However, moves for the pair failed to come to fruition, which meant Olivier Giroud remained at Stamford Bridge. 

It could have been different for Chelsea, though, who were offered the opportunity to sign Venezuelan powerhouse Rondon. 

30-year-old Rondon scored just five goals in the Chinese Super League last season as Rafa Benitez's side finished in mid-table. 

Chelsea's hierarchy, though, believed Rondon wouldn't offer enough in the final third to improve the squad, so passed up the opportunity to take him on loan for the rest of the season. 

Chelsea were offered Salomon Rondon on loan today. But they decided to stick to the plan of only signing to improve so passed #cfc

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) January 31, 2020

Many believed Chelsea would be active in the transfer market after their ban was overturned, but the west London side failed to bring in any new faces last month. 

The club still sit in the Champions League places in the Premier League, yet a 2-2 draw at Leicester on Saturday means they have won just one of their last five league matches.