With the Premier League making way for the international break, talk is also turning to the upcoming January transfer window.
Several Premier League sides are likely to want to bolster their squads when the window reopens in the new year, despite the 20 sides spending a combined amount in excess of £3 billion to shatter the spending record for the English top flight.
Reigning champions Liverpool spent most heavily, breaking the British transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, before once again exceeding their own record to sign forward Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.
Chelsea also added to their squad over the summer, with the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens all arriving at Stamford Bridge.
Now, however, it has emerged that the West London side have their sights set on a new defender.
As per Si Phillips, the Blues have identified Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and Club Brugge’s Joel Ordonez as potential targets for the upcoming window.
Ordonez îs on the radar of Chelsea (Photo: Independent Photo Agency/Alamy)
Chelsea are said to have compiled a list of possible transfer targets as they look to bolster Enzo Maresca’s squad in the new year, and both Araujo and Ordonez are said to feature.
It is claimed that, while Aruajo is a player that has been of interest to the Blues for some time, Ordonez has emerged on their radar more recently as he is perceived to be a young player with significant potential.
Araujo, 26, joined Barcelona from Uruguayan side Boston River back in 2018 and has since made 188 appearances for the club across all competitions.
Ordonez, meanwhile, has featured 97 times for Club Brugge since a 2023 move from Club NXT.
Chelsea have struggled with injuries in defence of late, with the likes of Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill having extended spells on the sidelines.