Chelsea are planning to use defender Trevoh Chalobah as a bargaining chip in their pursuit of Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.
The Blues are in the hunt for a new centre-back and former Chelsea defender Guehi tops the list of January targets for owner Todd Boehly.
Guehi left West London for the Eagles in 2021 and has since gone on to become an England international and captain for Palace.
Reports say Chelsea are willing to include Chalobah in a bid to bring Guehi back to Stamford Bridge, with the 25-year-old already on loan at Selhurst Park.
Chelsea’s former academy star was wanted by Newcastle in the summer but Palace valued the 24-year-old at around £70million ($86m), putting the Magpies off.
The Blues sold the defender for £20m ($24m) but would have to fork out a significantly higher fee for the Three Lions centre-back.
Head coach Enzo Maresca has suffered a big blow at the back, losing Wesley Fofana to another injury setback. The Frenchman could be ruled out until the end of the season which has left the club needing to dip into the January market.
Reports have also suggested that Chelsea could consider recalling Chalobah from his loan at Palace to provide cover for Fofana.
With a week of the transfer window already in the books, Chelsea must move fast if they are to secure a defender and keep pace at the top of the Premier League.
They take on Morecambe in the FA Cup this weekend before returning to league action against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
