Chelsea enquire about Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and £40m teammate who only joined five months ago, Blues receive the same response

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Chelsea have reportedly made a late enquiry in the January transfer window about two Brighton players.

There are a number of stars in the current Chelsea squad that directly joined them from Brighton, so could history be about to repeat itself? Blues players such as Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez all left the Amex Stadium to make the move to Stamford Bridge in recent years.

Interestingly, Brighton enquired about signing Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo this month, but he’s still with the club as the January window reaches its final stages.

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Chelsea enquire about two Brighton stars

Journalist Simon Phillips has claimed via Substack on Wednesday morning that Chelsea have asked Premier League rivals Brighton about their midfielder Carlos Baleba. In addition, the Blues made a ‘small’ enquiry about Seagulls attacker Georginio Rutter.

However, Phillips explains that Brighton responded to Chelsea’s contact by claiming that both players are not available.

Baleba, 21, is a highly-rated defensive midfielder shining in England’s top division this season for Brighton.

As for Rutter, the 22-year-old attacker only joined Brighton five months ago in a £40m deal (BBC) from Leeds United. He’s scored six goals in 23 appearances for the Seagulls across all competitions this season.

From a Chelsea perspective, it’s encouraging to see that they’re at least looking at reinforcements for midfield and the attack. They’ve hit an immediate brick wall with Brighton’s first-team duo, though.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wanted the club to strengthen three areas in January, including in midfield and up top.

Moises Caicedo vs Carlos Baleba

In many ways, Baleba has been the direct replacement for Caicedo at Brighton. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to see if he follows a similar trajectory in his career.

Most fans will rate Caicedo, 23, as one of the elite central midfielders in the country right now.

Here is a look at how Baleba and Caicedo compare so far in the Premier League this season:

Maresca is worried about playing Chelsea’s Caicedo too much, which is a concern we share. It would be a relief if the club can bring in extra cover for the midfield before the transfer deadline on 3 February.