Report: Barcelona are trying to convince £35m player not to join Chelsea in January now

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Reports from France have claimed that Barcelona are looking to convince Benoit Badiashile to not join Chelsea during next month’s transfer window.

According to L’Equipe, the Catalan club are hoping the defender chooses to wait until next summer before he makes his big move to a European powerhouse.

Reports over Christmas weekend claimed that the Blues have made an offer to Monaco to sign the 21-year-old in January, with their bid being in the region of £35m.

It appears as if they are currently preferring the signing to that of Josko Gvardiol.

After nearly signing the young defender during the last summer window, Blues fans were forced to watch him be arguably the best in his position at the tournament.

However, RB Leipzig have seemingly used this to their advantage, as they have begun to demand a far higher price than before for the Croatian.

Barcelona in for Badiashile

This has seemingly seen the Blues shift their focus in the market to fellow youngster Badiashile.

However, L’Equipe have claimed that the Blues will face competition from the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United if they don’t get the deal done in January.

With Thiago Silva almost certainly on the way out soon, the Blues will need to invest heavily in order to fill the void he is likely to leave in his wake.

The Blues are also facing a number of injury issues at the back this season. Wesley Fofana recently suffered another setback after attempting to return from a problem suffered earlier in the campaign.

The treatment table is getting very busy at Stamford Bridge right now, with Reece James time off it being very brief.

He suffered another injury on his return against Bournemouth, with his comeback lasting just over half of the fixture.