Malang Sarr is closing in on a season-long loan move to AS Monaco, football.london understands. The 23-year-old defender is set to sign a loan contract with the Ligue 1 club that is expected to include an obligation to buy in the region of around £13million.
Chelsea are now set to offload their third central defender of the summer transfer window, with Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen also departing. Meanwhile, talks over the future of Ethan Ampadu are set to occur over the next couple of days.
Thomas Tuchel, when speaking last week, all but confirmed Chelsea remain in the market for another centre-back despite signing Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella – who can be used as a left central defender – already.
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"That Azpi stayed, in actually the best position for Jules Kounde, these talks had an effect, and it's also the position of Trevoh Chalobah if we play in a back-three," Tuchel said. "Marc can play in a back-three on the left, Kalidou can play on the left of a three.
"Thiago Silva, who is not Benjamin Button and not getting younger, unfortunately, even though sometimes it seems like it. Maybe we bring one more player, maybe not.
"Still, we have Malang Sarr with us, and Ethan Ampadu still with us. We have options, but at the same time, we know how many games are coming. So let's see if we can sign a player."
Well, it's rather obvious who Tuchel wants as his next incoming. It's not a very well-kept secret.
Chelsea have already seen two offers turned down for Leicester City's Wesley Fofana, and a third bid is imminent, a source has told football.london. With add-ons and bonuses included, Chelsea's offer for the 21-year-old is expected to be over £80m. The Blues are now confident they can tempt Leicester into selling, despite Brendan Rodgers constantly insisting the club have no plans to offload Fofana this summer.
The west London club – although unlikely at the moment – will be trying to wrap up a deal to sign Fofana in time for their Premier League clash with Tottenham on Sunday. There's plenty to do before that, but personal terms have already been agreed with the Frenchman, so it's just down to the negotiations between the two clubs.
Chelsea offloading Sarr – in a loan deal that will turn permanent – could indeed have an impact on their pursuit of Fofana. Sarr leaving means it leaves Chelsea with just Koulibaly, Silva, Cucurella, Azpilicueta, Chalobah and Ampadu as options for the back-three.
Timo Werner is also very close to leaving Chelsea. football.london understands RB Leipzig are set to pay the Blues around £25m, including add-ons that are viewed as achievable to re-sign the Germany international.
The German forward, who has disappointed at Chelsea since making an almost-£50m move from Leipzig in 2020, leaving will release a hefty wage from the club's bill, and the transfer fee will also help the Blues in their pursuit of Fofana. It's encouraging Chelsea are about to offload three players – Marcos Alonso included – that are deemed to not have a future at the club. It's something that has been a struggle this summer.
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