Chelsea made ‘ridiculously low’ bid for ‘absolute gem’ of a defender during January transfer window

Add as preferred source on Google

Chelsea wanted to sign a new central defender in the winter transfer market after losing Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile to injuries.

In the end, Chelsea were not able to and Trevoh Chalobah was recalled from his loan at Crystal Palace instead.

Since returning to Stamford Bridge, the 25-year-old has made five appearances, including in the Blues’ 3-1 defeat to Manchester City last month. After that game, Chalobah was criticised by Michael Owen for his role in Erling Haaland’s goal.

Chelsea may have gone down the recall route with Chalobah, but it looks like they really did try to bring in a fresh face initially.

• READ MORE: Why Chelsea should sign Marc Guehi over £50m Premier League target who has outperformed him this season

Chelsea made ‘ridiculously low’ bid for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi

The central defender Chelsea wanted to sign last month was Marc Guehi, who played alongside Chalobah before he was brought back to Stamford Bridge.

Guehi was heavily linked to Chelsea after those injuries to Fofana and Badiashile.

In fact, according to The Sun, Chelsea actually made a bid for the 24-year-old, but that offer was deemed as “ridiculously low”.

They will have a better chance of re-signing their former academy player this summer when his contract enters its final 12 months.

Marc Guehi hailed as ‘absolute gem’

Someone who knows Guehi very well is former Sunderland and Rangers manager Michael Beale.

Beale worked with Guehi in Chelsea’s academy and has hailed the England international as an “absolute gem”.

“He shows a huge amount of confidence to play on the left side and his technical upbringing from Chelsea means he can use his left foot, albeit he is dominant on his right foot,” the 44-year-old told Sky Sports.

“When you see the teams line up, he’s not the biggest centre-back but he has a huge leap. Quietly people are realising we have an absolute gem in him.”

Tottenham Hotspur are also thought to be keen on signing the Palace star this summer, but Chelsea believe they can win the race for Guehi.

Guehi is the kind of centre-half Chelsea have been missing since Fofana’s injury, someone who is strong and dominant. If the Blues really can convince him to join them over Tottenham, then they have to.

It would be quite disappointing if the former Chelsea academy player ended up at one of their rivals knowing what he can bring to Enzo Maresca‘s side.