Chelsea are reportedly eyeing up a move for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi following a potentially season-ending injury to Wesley Fofana. The Frenchman has been forced to have surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament as he continues to be hampered by injuries during his Blues career.
The Guardian have claimed that Chelsea are weighing up the possibility of bringing Guehi back to Stamford Bridge, two years after selling him to Palace for £18million. He has impressed in south London and broken into the England setup, grabbing the attention of several of Chelsea’s rivals.
Both Arsenal and Tottenham also hold an interest in Guehi, however, but Chelsea do have the right to match any bids from other clubs. The two London sides’ level of interest remains to be seen, but if the Blues do step up their pursuit of the Cobham academy graduate then they may have to stump up some serious cash to fend off Mikel Arteta and Ange Postecoglu.
Chelsea have been left in a conundrum over their centre-back options for the coming season, though not having any European football could help ease the need for Mauricio Pochettino to rotate his defenders. Having sold Kalidou Koulibaly, the Argentine still has Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah to call upon.
At 39 years old it remains to be seen whether the Brazilian can continue at his high level across a whole season despite already proving his doubters wrong with strong performances since joining the club from Paris Saint-Germain in 2020. While Badiashile suffered a serious hamstring injury in May and is still continuing his recovery and transfer doubts remain over both Colwill and Chalobah.
Colwill’s outstanding season on loan at Brighton has prompted the Seagulls to attempt to sign him permanently, while Liverpool also want the England under-21 star but Chelsea have so far rebuffed their advances. Chalobah had also been tipped for a move in order to get more playing time, but may stay at Stamford Bridge if Guehi or another centre-back does not arrive.
Clubs had previously been told that Guehi would cost as much as £50m in order to prise him away from Palace, as Palace had used Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s 2019 transfer as a benchmark.
He still has three years left on his contract at Selhurst Park, putting Roy Hodgson’s side in a strong position this summer.
Chelsea have a sell-on fee for Guehi and are due 20 per cent of any future sale, according to the London Evening Standard, which could help them in negotiations with Palace, but they are also facing the prospect of paying over the top to bring the defender back to Stamford Bridge thanks to Arsenal and Spurs.
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