The Blues have their reasons as they attempt to sign 20-year-old Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet – who appears to be their preferred target – despite the French club’s reluctance to sell him in the middle of the season.
There is, however, a broader question: why sign another central defender at all?
Chelsea have spent £222.4m on the position since BlueCo — the company owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital — bought the club in 2022.
Their current options include Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Josh Acheampong, Jorrel Hato and Axel Disasi.
In fairness, Colwill is out with a long-term injury, Hato has primarily played at left-back, and Disasi is “back in the group”, according to head coach Liam Rosenior, having been in the so-called ‘bomb squad’.
Yet, Chelsea would still ideally like to sell Disasi, and Rosenior also revealed Tosin has suffered a hamstring injury “which is going to rule him out for the next few weeks”.
