Blues fail in Mertens pursuit, Olivier Giroud set to stay put, Lamptey to join Brighton and more: Chelsea Transfer News Roundup, 31st January 2020

Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's daily Chelsea transfer news roundup.

In today's edition, we discuss the latest development's surrounding the Blues' never-ending search for a striker, Tariq Lamptey's move to Brighton & Hove Albion and Ethan Ampadu's future at RB Leipzig.

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Giroud set to stay put at Chelsea

According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, Chelsea will not allow striker Olivier Giroud to leave the club today.

Being told Chelsea’s attempts to secure a replacement for Olivier Giroud are over & he’ll stay at #CFC until the summer regardless of whether he plays. Would take something extraordinary to change the situation before tonight’s 11pm deadline @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/JsZSmCIYUC

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 31, 2020

Giroud’s exit was dependant on Chelsea securing an attacking reinforcement and had a bid for Napoli striker Dries Mertens shot down. The Italian outfit do not want to sell the Belgian midway through the season and have made their stance clear. As such, Frank Lampard doesn’t want to further weaken his squad by letting Giroud leave.

The Frenchman was a target for Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan and more lately, Lazio, whose sporting director Igli Tare flew into London today to convince Chelsea to sell. However, until something drastic happens before the deadline tonight, Giroud is expected to stay put at Chelsea.

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Lamptey set to join Brighton

Chelsea’s highly-rated academy graduate Tariq Lamptey has chosen to join Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion in a 4.5 million deal, and is currently undergoing a medical at the Seagulls.

Lamptey, who Chelsea were desperate to tie down to a new deal, but the duo couldn’t agree on terms and the 19-year-old eventually decided to join Graham Potter’s side.

There was a lot of interest in securing the services of Lamptey from within the country and around Europe, but Brighton swooped in at the very last minute and the promise of playing Premier League football along with the opportunity to be coached by Potter swayed Lamptey’s mind.

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Ampadu to remain put at Leipzig despite Bristol interest

Despite reports emerging late last night that Chelsea were set to cut Ethan Ampadu’s underwhelming loan spell at RB Leipzig short and loan him out to Bristol City, it is understood that the Welsh youngster will remain put in Germany for the rest of the season.

Ampadu has barely been used by the German outfit, featuring only five times so far this season. Bristol sold midfielder Josh Brownhill to Burnley and earmarked Ampadu, who can play in the backline and as a defensive midfielder, as a potential replacement.

However, Leipzig do not want Ampadu to return to England and believe that he will play an important role in the club’s push to win the Bundesliga title.

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