Chelsea lost out to rivals Liverpool on Rennes centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, who has been a long-term target for the Blues.
Liam Rosenior will be delighted with his start at Stamford Bridge, as his side continued their recent impressive form, with a 3-2 win against West Ham over the weekend, which pushed them one point ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League table.
Chelsea are yet to make any major signings in January, as it always looked as though Jacquet would be that signing. However, Liverpool swooped in and agreed a £60m deal to sign the French defender, who will join at Anfield in the summer.
The Blues are keen to strengthen at centre-back, as they will now have to look at alternative targets to Jacquet.
Chelsea ‘hold talks’ with Dayot Upamecano
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Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano has been linked with several Premier League clubs, including Chelsea and Liverpool. The 27-year-old is out of contract in the summer, and so could be sold by Bayern to ensure they get some form of return on him, much like Crystal Palace did with Marc Guehi.
Upamecano is a world-class centre-back, and would be a real coup for Chelsea. According to TeamTalk, the Blues have made contact with Upamecano’s camp at Bayern, and hope to take advantage of his expiring contract.
It is understood that there is genuine concern from Bayern Munich about Upamecano’s future at the club, so Chelsea could come in with a late bid on deadline day to try and bolster Rosenior’s defensive options.
The Blues are also keen on a Ligue 1 centre-back
After missing out on Jacquet, Chelsea also identified fellow Ligue 1 defender Tylel Tati as an alternative option. It is understood that the Blues saw a £26m approach rejected for the 18-year-old from his current club Nantes this month.
However, Tati was not seen as a solution to Rosenior’s current centre-back problem, as Chelsea had planned to send him back to Nantes on loan if they did manage to sign him.
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