Chelsea suffered a major blow in this transfer window after missing out on their priority target.
Chelsea were desperate to sign Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes but have been forced to watch him join Liverpool instead.
It is thought that Jacquet chose Liverpool over Chelsea because there is not as much competition at Anfield.
We had the whole of January to sign Jeremy Jacquet and come up short 😡
Who is to blame for this?!
Had the Frenchman signed for the Blues, he perhaps would have had to compete against the likes of Josh Acheampong, Mamadou Sarr and Aaron Anselmino. None of those players are even starters yet, showing just how much depth Chelsea have in central defence.
Chelsea to scour centre-back market again
Despite the amount of centre-half options Chelsea already have, they are not giving up on bringing a new name in after their failure with Jacquet.
According to football.london, Chelsea are likely to scan the central defender market again in the summer.
Sarr could remain with the first team, while Anselmino’s loan spell at Strasbourg will be over. There will surely have to be exits if any other centre-backs are to arrive.
Chelsea have tried to sell Trevoh Chalobah before, while they can make easy profit on Tosin Adarabioyo after signing him from Fulham for nothing in 2024. Both men could become candidates to depart.
There was some talk about Adarabioyo leaving last month, but an exit never materialised. It will now be interesting to see who could come in to join the 28-year-old or possibly even replace him.
Centre-backs Chelsea could target
In terms of alternatives to Jacquet, there is already speculation about Chelsea being interested in Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano.
It has been reported that Chelsea have held talks with Upamecano’s people about a potential move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
DISCUSS: Dayot Upamecano to Chelsea
A more experienced option than Jeremy Jacquet ✅
Another name could be Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande, who has been linked to Chelsea in the past.
It was thought that Enzo Maresca was a huge fan of Diomande before his departure from Chelsea.
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