£35m player left out of starting line-up last night, after claims Chelsea are trying to sign him

Add as preferred source on Google

Ligue 1 side Monaco elected to leave defender Benoit Badiashile on the bench last night in their return to club football.

The 21-year-old has been widely linked with a move to Chelsea in January.

Reports over Christmas weekend have claimed that the Blues are keen on a deal to sign the centre-back next month in attempt to strengthen their defence with another young star.

This was originally the plan with RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol. Todd Boehly launched a late attempt to sign him back in the summer.

While that deal was unsuccessful, Blues fans were forced to watch him put in an unbelievable set of personal appearances for Croatia at the World Cup.

The European side finished third in the tournament, and have the 20-year-old to thank for plenty of their successes.

Badiashile dropped by Monaco

However, the Bundesliga side have reportedly used this to their advantage when setting a price for the elite sides to sign the youngster.

This has seemingly seen Chelsea turn to Badiashile in their attempts to strengthen at the back.

There may have been an acceptance of the inevitable at his club Monaco, with him not featuring in their 3-2 win over Auxerre.

He was benched in favour of Chelsea loanee Malang Sarr, who certainly didn’t enjoy the best season with the Blues last season.

With the January transfer window just days away, there may be a hesitance for the Ligue 1 side to feature the young defender if he is to leave them imminently.

It is likely that the France international will swiftly be competing for starts at Stamford Bridge, despite the seeming loss of one centre-back as a result of a potential permanent switch to a 4-3-3.