Chelsea are now prepared to meet the asking price to sign a Premier League star, who their manager Enzo Maresca is believed to be a real admirer of.
Chelsea face Leicester City after consecutive draws
Maresca’s side are looking to return to winning ways against newly-promoted Leicester City, the Italian’s former team, on 23 November after two consecutive Premier League draws against rivals Man United and Arsenal.
Related
London club approach Chelsea to sign £62m ace in “transformative deal”
He could be handed a new lease of life across London.
The Blues are sure-fire favourites to put Leicester away at the King Power Stadium after what has been a very promising start to life under Maresca overall, with Chelsea implementing a brand of open, expansive and attacking football since the former Man City employee’s arrival at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s next Premier League fixtures | Date |
|---|---|
Leicester City (home) | November 23 |
Aston Villa (home) | December 1 |
Southampton (away) | December 4 |
Tottenham (home) | December 8 |
Brentford (home) | December 15 |
The west Londoners are also favourites to seal a place in the top four and make a return to the Champions League next season, and many expect them to lift the UEFA Europa Conference League as well.
An underrated part of their early success under Maresca has been the solid centre-back partnership of Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana, who have both impressed at the heart of Chelsea’s new-look defence thus far.
Colwill has attracted praise from Chelsea chiefs behind-the-scenes, according to some reports, but that hasn’t stopped them from looking at the transfer market for alternatives to the pair.
Benoit Badiashile is highly-rated by Chelsea as well, but despite Maresca having the Frenchman, Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi as back-up options, it is believed that they’re drawing up a list of central defensive targets for the upcoming transfer windows.
Reliable journalist Simon Phillips recently stated that Chelsea are expected to sign another centre-back “very soon”, which could spell trouble for Disasi, and there are a few interesting names in their thinking.
One of them is Nottingham Forest star Murillo, amid his exceptional start to the campaign under Nuno Espirito Santo at the City Ground.
Some reports even suggest that Chelsea could offer Trevoh Chalobah in talks for Murillo, but the Brazilian isn’t the only Premier League star being considered at Cobham.
Chelsea prepared to meet the £50 million asking price for Illia Zabarnyi
Maresca is said to be a fan of Bournemouth and Ukraine star Illia Zabarnyi, according to multiple media sources, and this is echoed by CaughtOffside.
According to their information, Chelsea are prepared to meet Zabarnyi’s £50 million asking price, which shows just how highly they rate the 22-year-old who is pretty close to half a century of international caps for his country already.
Both the former Dynamo Kyiv ace and Marcos Senesi have formed an impressive partnership so far, and they particularly impressed during a 2-1 win over English champions Man City recently.
“I think they’ve been very brave because it’s difficult to play with the spaces we’ve had behind all the game, against Haaland, because he’s always a threat,” said Cherries boss Andoni Iraola.
“At the end of the game, it was a different game where they were pushing us and we had to defend crosses, deal with difficult [situations], not only Erling, they put the centre backs, everyone, was pushing there.”
