Chelsea have reignited their interest in Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries whom the Italian club are already prepared to sell to balance their accounts, according to Tuttosport.
Reece James’ long-awaited return from injury was cut short after he sustained another knee injury set-back during Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old is expected to be out for another four weeks after being previously absent for over two months.
This unfortunate situation, however, might have stemmed from the over-reliance on the England international in the first place.
Blues manager Graham Potter still has Cesar Azpilicueta and versatile midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek as right wing-back options, but the team clearly suffers a lot in terms of performance without James’ presence.
What Chelsea would need, in order to reduce James’ workload, is a reliable backup.
This is exactly why Chelsea are now in the market for a new right-back, according to Italian outlet Tuttosport.
The west London club are said to be back in the race for Dumfries who could be available in January.
The report claims that Inter, who actually prefer to sell the 26-year-old at the end of the season, are currently considering cashing in on the 26-year-old.
Inter need to balance their accounts this season and if any club, including Chelsea, were offering €50-60million (£44.2-53m) for the Netherlands international, it would likely be impossible for the club to turn down, the report adds.
Alternatively, Chelsea are also said to be looking at Celtic’s Josip Juranovic.
The 27-year-old had a strong World Cup campaign with Croatia and is expected to cost much less at around €10m (£8.8m).
Dumfries would offer a long-term solution to Chelsea’s lack of depth in the right-back position, but spending big on a potential backup player does not seem to be a wise move.
Particularly given the investment Chelsea will reportedly have to make in players in other positions, including the potential €120m (roughly £106m) needed to trigger Enzo Fernandez’s release clause at Benfica.
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