Enzo Maresca can take Chelsea above Liverpool if Blues beat their rivals to £83m signing this summer

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Presently, Liverpool are miles ahead of Chelsea, and the Premier League table shows that.

While Liverpool sit in first on 67 points, Chelsea are 21 points behind their rivals in fifth. It is certainly not a small gap.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	28	20	7	1	66	26	40	67
2	ArsenalArsenal	27	15	9	3	51	23	28	54
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	27	14	6	7	44	33	11	48
4	Man CityManchester City	27	14	5	8	53	37	16	47
5	ChelseaChelsea	27	13	7	7	52	36	16	46
6	NewcastleNewcastle	27	13	5	9	46	38	8	44

Enzo Maresca must now find a way to close the distance; otherwise, the Blues will not have a chance of winning the Premier League title any time soon.

The transfer market can be a big help to the Italian, and Chelsea are being linked with Liam Delap and some other top players. But they will need more than that to overtake Arne Slot’s side.

• READ MORE: Whether Joao Felix is likely to return to Chelsea as Blues’ opinion of AC Milan teammate Rafael Leao emerges

Chelsea and Liverpool both interested in AC Milan’s Rafael Leao

AC Milan winger Rafael Leao is the sort of signing that could help Chelsea surpass Liverpool, and the Blues are thought to be keen on him.

It is believed that Leao is a transfer target for Chelsea, but they are not the only ones who have the 25-year-old on their radar.

According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool are also interested in Leao and are considering making an approach for him.

Leao has a €175m (£144.8m) release clause in his contract, but the same outlet claims that Milan have set an asking price of €100m (£82.7m), making him much more affordable.

Leao’s release clause proved to be a problem the last time Chelsea tried to sign him, but it looks like it is not something that the Blues will have to worry about this time around.

Chelsea can kill two birds with one stone by signing Rafael Leao

Although they play on opposite flanks, Leao could be the marquee signing Liverpool try to make to replace Mohamed Salah.

Salah’s contract expires at the end of the season, meaning that there is a real possibility of the Egyptian leaving Anfield this summer.

It is another reason for Chelsea to sign Leao, then. Not only will they be bringing in a quality attacker who can improve them, but they will also be stopping one of their rivals from strengthening.

It is the kind of move that could help Maresca to take this Chelsea team above Liverpool. Leao is the type of wide man who is going to bring goals and flair to whichever club he joins if he does decide to leave Milan.

In his best ever season at Milan, the Portugal international scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in 35 Serie A appearances. As per WhoScored, he completed 2.2 dribbles per league game, showing that he can beat his man.

Ultimately, if Chelsea can add that to their squad and stop Liverpool from doing so at the same time, it could potentially put the former on top should Salah depart Merseyside.

Whatever happens, the Liverpool legend will go down as one of the greatest players in Premier League history, though Brentford duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa have chosen Eden Hazard over him as the division’s best ever wide man.