The January transfer window rumour mill is well and truly in overdrive.
Chester FC defender Sam Hughes, a target for a number of Championship clubs, missed Saturday's 2-1 win at Braintree Town with an ankle injury sustained in training.
He didn't travel with the squad which led to some talk that he was on his way from the Blues.
Meanwhile, Saturday's two-goal hero in Essex, James Alabi, is another whose name was mentioned on social media by a Twitter account claiming to be a football agent.
The Twitter user suggested that Alabi, who took his tally 11 goals this season at the weekend, was bound for a League One club.
But the Chronicle understands that no bids have been lodged with Chester and no interest registered for the striker and that the rumours have little substance.
His performances of late will certainly have seen some scouts sit up and take notice and you can never rule out interest further down the line, but suggestions of a deal being sewn up for the striker are way wide of the mark, with Alabi under contract at the Blues until the end of the season and benefiting from, for the first time in his career, spending a prolonged period of time at a club under a manager who has shown him plenty of faith.
With regards to Hughes, it is no secret that clubs are interested and that Chester are bracing themselves for a bid before the month is out.
But his absence in the next week or so is genuinely believed to be injury related.
After the Braintree game Chester boss Jon McCarthy joked: "We've sold him, one million pounds!
"No, he hurt his ankle in training, which is a blow for us but a bigger blow for him.
"I get that there is all kinds of conspiracy theories but, if you want, I can get him to tweet a picture of his swollen ankle.
"It's nothing bad, it's nothing serious, it is a little twist. It is a week or a couple of weeks or, if the swelling is bad then they can go for six or eight weeks. It is about assessing it.
"I think Sam would have strapped it up and had a go (at Braintree). Players like him, Luke George and Ryan Astles will play with broken legs. I'll have to get the reins on him."
