Chelsea Target Manchester City Defender - Report

Manchester City defender Micah Richards has fuelled speculation of a possible move to Chelsea after he was spotted at Stamford Bridge, an hour before the Blues' midweek game against QPR.

A report by the Daily Mail states interim manager Rafael Benitez did not deny the possibility of a move for Richards, choosing instead to refuse to comment on players registered to other clubs. These, incidentally, were the same comments he made before Newcastle United confirmed the west London outfit had been given permission to speak to Senegal striker Demba Ba.

The 24 year old right back has 13 England caps to his name and is Roberto Mancini's vice captain. However, he has missed large parts of the season so far, with an ankle injury picked up during the 2012 London Olympics. He returned to first team action in October but was unfortunately sidelined again with a torn meniscus and is unlikely to be available again before February.

The Blues signed Spaniard Cesar Azpilicueta in the summer to fill the right back position. And also have Serbian international Branislav Ivanovic who can fill in on the right side of the defence. However, with the long term absence of captain John Terry and Brazilian David Luiz shifting to a midfield position, Ivanovic has been moved in to the centre of defence, leaving Chelsea the option of signing a right back to provide cover and competition for Azpilicueta.

Kompany: City Can Still Win League

Meanwhile, Belgian centre back Vincent Kompany believes the Etihad club remain capable of retaining their Premier League crown, despite trailing leaders Manchester United by seven points with 17 games left to play.

"What I would say is that a couple of years ago, had we fallen seven points behind, we would all have said to ourselves that it would be very difficult. But now we've done it, nobody panics. Everything is still possible. We have proved what we can do and everybody is very calm. That's the advantage you get when you win it once. You have that inner confidence. We've set our standards high and worked hard for a long time to bring ourselves into this position," Kompany explained.