Chelsea are currently looking at a number of central midfielders ahead of the upcoming January transfer window. The market officially opens in just over two weeks' time and it is looking as if it could be a busy period behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge.
football.london understands talks have been on a consistent basis regarding midfield targets ever since the summer transfer window closed. There is a general consensus Chelsea will go all in for Declan Rice at the end of the season with West Ham United expected to be more open to selling the 23-year-old.
Edson Alvarez of Ajax also remains a target for Chelsea, who failed with a £43million offer for the Mexican over the summer transfer window. With N'Golo Kante and Jorginho seeing their contracts expire at the end of the season, the midfield duo both look more likely to leave than stay at the time of writing, with no breakthrough in contract negotiations with either.
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Kante has also struggled with injury problems, with the 31-year-old absent since the second game of the season against Tottenham. There is no set date for when the France international will return to the field, meaning Chelsea could once again be short of options going into the new year.
One man Chelsea could turn to for a role in the midfield is the brilliant Lewis Hall. The 18-year-old played in the Blues' last two games before the break for the World Cup, with appearances against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and a Premier League debut away at Newcastle United.
However, Hall played both of those games in the left wing-back position. He showed his versatility on both days because he was exceptional over the two matches. There is a shout, though, for Graham Potter to try and use Hall in the centre of midfield – a position he has now revealed is his favourite.
"I prefer playing as a number eight where I can go box to box but the last couple of years I've been playing on the left, whether it's as wing-back or full-back," Hall said to Chelsea's official website.
"Wherever I am asked to play, I've just got to do my best. Obviously I have my preferences but realistically it's a big jump from academy to senior football so getting any minutes wherever I play on the pitch is just a blessing really."
It's clear from Hall's comments that the middle of the pitch is somewhere he wants to dominate in his career. He is right, though, when he says it's perhaps unrealistic to make the leap to senior football and slot straight into Chelsea's midfield. It may be a case of playing at wing-back for a couple of seasons before Potter eventually uses him further up the field.
It could go down the Trent Alexander-Arnold route at Liverpool. The Reds academy product spent his younger days as a central midfielder but was brought into the team as a right-back and there are no signs that his position will ever change under Jurgen Klopp.
With a club like Chelsea as well, they will continue to buy what they deem as the hottest talents around Europe for their central midfield, so Hall's route to consistent first-team football could be at wing-back. It will be great for Potter to have the option of using the teenager in the middle of the pitch, though, in the second half of the Premier League season.
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