Chelsea now prepared to pay £52m for defender who Pep Guardiola thinks is great

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Reports from Italy have claimed that Chelsea are now keen to pay a large fee in order to sign one defender this month.

According to TV Play, the Blues would be prepared to stump up as much as £52m in order to sign Alessandro Bastoni from Inter as part of the January transfer window.

It is expected to be a busy month as far as Chelsea are concerned with both incomings and outgoings likely to be on the way.

Centre-back is a position the Blues have already been linked with the addition of. Just hours into January, they were already reported to be in for Jean-Clair Todibo from Nice.

Now though, Bastoni has been linked with a move to Chelsea. He has previously been a target in a number of different transfer windows.

Inter Milan could be forced to sell at the end of this season due to some reported financial problems they are beginning to face.

Chelsea prepared to pay £52m for Bastoni

The Italian has been praised heavily throughout his career, with Pep Guardiola describing him as ‘great’.

The Blues are probably going to look to part ways with a number of their current options at centre-back this January.

Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr are nowhere to be seen since Mauricio Pochettino joined the club, after plenty of efforts were made during the summer to move them on.

Any signings this month though will likely rely on them actually being able to move players on, with the most likely candidate right now being 21-year-old Ian Maatsen.

The Dutchman is reportedly of interest to Borussia Dortmund, and is seemingly keen on a move to Germany.

It will depend on if a fee can be agreed between the two sides though, with Chelsea likely to request a similar fee that they received in bids over the summer.

Only then will they be likely to make a bid for a player of the price of Bastoni.