Chelsea's game of poker with Leicester City might be about to end as the Blues reportedly find a shock alternative to Wesley Fofana in the late stages of the window.
Todd Boehly has made progress with his attempts to bring Fofana to Chelsea with the player likely to miss the Foxes' game against Southampton, but that could be due to Brendan Rodgers withdrawing him or the player's own decision.
Either way it poses a picture that not all is happy between the two parties and Chelsea are still waiting, just trying to find a way to make the fee as low as possible, ideally making it fall below the current world record fee for a defender of £80m.
READ MORE: Wesley Fofana asks to be left out of Leicester squad as Chelsea transfer talk intensifies
The price tag that is believed would tempt Leicester is currently £85m, though Chelsea are keen to bring that down with add-ons and player swaps included too. Outside of Fofana Chelsea have already watched Julesn Kounde, Matthijs de Ligt and Presnel Kimpembe not go their way, and have reportedly hatched a plan to bring in Manchester United's Harry Maguire.
According to the Daily Mail Chelsea used their contact with the Red Devils last week to enquire as to Maguire's availability. This comes as Erik ten Hag pushes the idea of signing Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech, with all three available on loan this summer.
The current most expensive defender, also moving away from Leicester, could be about to lose his place in his club side, where he is captain, after a shambolic start to the season, and Chelsea transfer journalist Rob Pratley has indicated that the rumour is not a play from Chelsea, but a PR one from Maguire's side. He tweeted, "Transfer Lesson of the Day 29: Agents often will get their players in the papers by calling in favours. They seldom have truth. Convenient this story arrives days before Maguire might be getting dropped."
Although it does seem extremely unlikely that Chelsea would be interested in an underperforming player on high wages - and one that would command a high price of his own despite being 29 - there has been a similar play made by Boehly this summer in using players for swap deals.
With Chelsea trying to get rid of Pulisic, Ziyech, Timo Werner - who left on a permanent deal - and Hudson-Odoi in some capacity, all of these players had already been offered out in player plus cash deals. Marcos Alonso is the latest player to be involved, making up part of the offer made to Barcelona for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Even with the possibility of offloading players in the move, Maguire is a player that, other than excelling in a back three, has little to fit Tuchel's style at Chelsea and even with desperation to fill defensive spots wouldn't be close to the top of his list of possible targets. The England centre-back has struggled for form over the last 12-months and has his international spot in doubt with the winter World Cup on the horizon, but with Chelsea's own centre-backs already looking aged, a deal for Maguire isn't one that makes sense and the rumours could quickly blow over.
READ NEXT :
Thomas Tuchel risks ruining Chelsea reputation with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang transfer pursuit
Thomas Tuchel repeats Vinicius Jnr trick to uncover £40m Chelsea transfer solution vs Spurs
Timo Werner Chelsea fate exposes wider transfer mistake that Todd Boehly cannot repeat
Callum Hudson-Odoi Dortmund talks could finally end Chelsea's £150m transfer dead-end
- Full Chelsea Premier League fixture list for 2022/23
