La Liga giants Barcelona now want to sign another Chelsea player who head coach Enzo Maresca thinks is “vital”, alongside the already-linked Carney Chukwuemeka, with the Catalans looking to Stamford Bridge to shore up one area of the park.
Chelsea players who could leave in January
Barring two defeats in the Premier League to title contenders Man City and Liverpool, the west Londoners have started this campaign in absolutely excellent fashion.
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Maresca’s side were quite unlucky to lose to Liverpool at Anfield, creating more chances and dominating the possession on Merseyside, but it was a learning curve for Chelsea who otherwise displayed real promise over these first two months of the campaign.
The likes of Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson and others have displayed real quality and showed exactly why they’re starting for Chelsea week in, week out. However, some fellow members of the squad haven’t been as fortunate, with Chelsea’s manager relegating them to bit-part roles.
Newcastle (home)
October 27
Man United (away)
November 3
Arsenal (home)
November 10
Leicester City (home)
November 23
Aston Villa (home)
December 1
Maresca is apparently unconvinced by summer signing Joao Felix, who is yet to start a single top-flight game, and it is believed a few of his teammates could depart on loan or permanently in the January transfer window.
Chelsea are prepared to loan out Mykhailo Mudryk in January, with the Ukranian struggling for both form and consistent game time. Meanwhile, the likes of Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile have been linked with Chelsea exits as well.
Ben Chilwell is very likely to leave Chelsea in the winter too, despite Maresca recently reintroducing him to the senior squad and handing the left-back a 45-minute cameo during their 5-1 win over Barrow in the EFL Cup.
Man United are registering an interest in Chilwell ahead of January, with midfielder Chukwuemeka drawing admirers from Europe. The 20-year-old, on a reported £100,000-per-week at Stamford Bridge, is believed to be of interest in Serie A. AC Milan have opened talks with Chukwuemeka’s reps, and the former Aston Villa gem is also wanted by Barcelona.
Barcelona register interest in signing Romeo Lavia from Chelsea
According to journalist Simon Phillips, writing via his Substack, Barca have already held talks with Chukwuemeka’s agents with the player up for sale.
Hansi Flick’s side want to bolster the midfield, and Chukwuemeka isn’t the only Blue on their radar. Indeed, another Chelsea midfield ace in Romeo Lavia is also attracting their attention,
Phillips writes that Barcelona have registered their interest in signing Lavia from Chelsea, but Maresca and the club’s hierarchy consider the Belgian a “vital” part of their project and won’t even entertain an enquiry.
The former Man City and Southampton starlet’s career at Cobham has been dampened by injuries so far. However, Lavia is seen as a player with serious potential. City boss Pep Guardiola, commenting on the 20-year-old last year, was full of praise for Lavia during his time at St. Mary’s.
“I am really impressed with what Romeo has done and is doing,” said Guardiola on Lavia.
“We had, and we have, an incredible opinion about him. We thought to keep him, but maybe he would not (get) enough minutes like he has in Southampton.”
The defensive midfielder has started two league games this season, most recently against Liverpool, but was forced to sit on the sidelines for a period beforehand with a hamstring problem.