Chelsea are reportedly keen on signing Inter Milan right back Denzel Dumfries in January as cover for Reece James.
The England international has been ruled out of Chelsea ’s last four fixtures after suffering a knee injury against AC Milan on October 11 and will not return for the Blues until December at the earliest, while he is facing a race against time to make the World Cup next month.
And co-owner Todd Boehly seems to have found his ideal replacement at Milan’s city rivals Inter, with the American said to be ‘keen’ on reigniting plans to sign Dutch international Dumfries in the New Year.
According to 90min, Dumfries remains a ‘key target’ for the Blues after they failed to sign him during the summer and Potter is intent on providing added depth to his wing-back options by signing him in January.
The Blues boss has used Cesar Azpilicueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and even Raheem Sterling in that area of the field, with none of those players a natural in that position, even if the former is experienced in a more traditional right back role.
Dumfries is valued at around £35million, according to the report, which is a lot of money to splash on cover for James, although Boehly proved over the summer that he is willing to spend whatever it takes to get top targets through the door.
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Of course, the final decision also lies with Inter and whether they are willing to let one of their top players go. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea initially asked the Serie A giants to include Dumfries as part of a player-plus-cash deal for Romelu Lukaku in the summer.
However, that deal failed to materialise, although Inter are currently experiencing some financial struggles and could be tempted to cash in on Dumfries just 18 months after signing him for around £12m from PSV Eindhoven in 2021 following an impressive Euro 2020.
The Netherlands international grabbed two goals and an assist in their opening two group stage fixtures, which followed up a promising campaign with PSV where he recorded four goals and nine assists in all competitions.
Inter acted quickly to secure his signature following the tournament and the 26-year-old featured 45 times in his first campaign for the San Siro outfit, registering a further five goals and seven assists as they narrowly missed out on the Serie A title.
As of the current campaign, Dumfries already has two goals and two assists as a regular starter in the Italian capital, while he helped the Netherlands reach the Nations League finals next year during the September international break.
If he impresses for Louis Van Gaal’s Oranje at the World Cup in Qatar next month, his stock could significantly rise and other clubs will begin to cast their eye over the Dutchman ahead of January, meaning Chelsea will have to act fast if they are to fend off other potential suitors.
