Chelsea make shock move for England defender

Chelsea continued their impressive start to the new Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over West London rivals Fulham on Saturday. 

Goals from Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez earned the Blues a second victory of the season at Stamford Bridge, moving Enzo Maresca’s side up to second in the top flight standings.

Fellow West Londoners Brentford await Chelsea after the international break, but in the meantime it has emerged that the FIFA Club World Cup holders have made a shock move for an England international.

According to CaughtOffside, Chelsea have entered the race to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

The report claim that the Blues have re-entered the race to land the centre-back, who is a product of their Cobham academy.

Guehi scored against Aston Villa on Sunday (Photo: PA Images/Alamy)

Guehi departed Stamford Bridge for Selhurst Park back in 2021 and has since played more than 160 times for the South London side across all competitions.

Liverpool have had a £35 million offer for the central defender rejected by Palace, and the report claims that Chelsea are hoping to take advantage of perceived delays in negotiations between the Reds and the Eagles.

It is also claimed that both Chelsea and Liverpool will look to sign Guehi as a free agent next summer if he doesn’t move before the end of the current window, with the Englishman’s contract set to expire at the end of the season.

Current Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, while academy graduate Levi Colwill is set to miss the majority of the campaign with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Maresca and those in charge of the Blues’ recruitment are therefore on the hunt for defensive reinforcements, and Guehi has emerged as a potential target, although agreeing a deal is likely to prove tricky with the player himself keen to join Liverpool the report suggests.