Chelsea spent over £270 million this summer on the likes of Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Carney Chukwuemeka. However, they were linked with moves for plenty of other names.
Bayern Munich full-back Benjamin Pavard was one of those players mentioned, but he remained with the Bundesliga giants. A source told football.london in July that Pavard was on a shortlist of defensive targets Chelsea were monitoring.
Manchester United were also linked with the France international who has less than two years remaining on his contract at the Allianz Arena. In the summer, Pavard was asked about the possibility of him leaving Bayern, and said: "I still have a two-year contract and I am very happy here. But you never know what will happen in football."
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Despite remaining in Germany this summer, Pavard hasn't ruled out moving on in the future. Reports in the summer suggested that he would have been willing to join Chelsea this summer, but it would have taken a significant fee for Bayern to let him leave. Given that Cesar Azpilicueta's contract at the Blues expires in 2024, Chelsea could move for Pavard as a replacement, with his deal at the Bundesliga champions up in the same year.
“I questioned myself, I had calls from different clubs with my agent," Pavard told Telefoot. "Afterwards, I had the Bayern coach with whom we spoke and with whom we have a good relationship.
“He made me understand that I was in his plans, that I was important for the team. Maybe one day I will go to one of these clubs, you never know what the future holds.
“I’m still at Bayern Munich. Afterwards, we have time to project ourselves.”
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