Chelsea have learned AS Monaco’s asking price for defender Benoît Badiashile amid interest from Manchester United and Barcelona.
Thomas Tuchel is in the market for several defenders this summer to rebuild his defence following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers.
Kalidou Koulibaly has already been signed to strengthen the back-line, but more signings are wanted to tighten up the defence at Stamford Bridge.
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Chelsea look set to miss out on long-term target Jules Kounde as Barcelona look to wrap up a deal for the France international, while Matthijs de Ligt joined Bayern Munich and Manchester City rejected their bid for Nathan Ake.
Josko Gvardiol and Presnel Kimpembe have also emerged as potential options for the Blues, but another name has surfaced in Benoît Badiashile of AS Monaco.
Reports in France from L’Equipe claim that Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona have all shown interest in the 21-year-old this summer.
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Sevilla, who are looking to replace Kounde, have been in touch to express their interest and have been told the valuation, alerting other clubs of what they would need to pay to prise Badiashile away from Monaco.
The Ligue 1 side will not sell the central defender for anything less than €50 million.
Atletico Madrid, West Ham and Newcastle United have also been keeping tabs on the Frenchman.
Who Chelsea will sign in defence this summer to add to the acquisition of Koulibaly remains unclear, but work needs to be done quickly to ensure Tuchel has as much as possible to work with before the 2022/23 Premier League gets underway next weekend.
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Chelsea were thrashed 4-0 by Arsenal in pre-season last weekend to end their United States tour in dismal fashion, showing how much work needs to be done at the back.
Targets are wanted by Tuchel, who has expressed the urgent need to get signings through the door to allow them to compete.
“The analysing of the season does not change because of this game,” said the 48-year-old after the defeat on Chelsea’s need for incomings.
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“Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point. I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.
"We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We've got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."
A left-footed centre-back is desired this summer, Tuchel added: “We are looking of course for people who can play on the left side. To be honest, Antonio (Rudiger) played on the left side and he is not left footed. Maybe Kalidou can play there because he plays in a back four on the left side.
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“Let's see what's possible. It is not only about bringing in players for numbers. We need numbers but we need also quality so we will make some decisions late. Not only on quality but system.”
Topics: Chelsea, AS Monaco, Football, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers
Matthew Debono